
Qass b \o*t 

Book S^-^ % '-^-' 




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THE 



ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH 



ANNHOERSARY 






econti CongrcgatioHiil C|urt 



GREENWICH, CONN. 



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NEW YORK: 

CLARK & M A Y N A R D , PUBLISHERS, 

No. 5 BARCLAY STREET. 





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tmitesctrj. 



9d 
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ilicr SI Nassau St 



ERECTED 1856-8 



exp:rcises 



CELEBRATION OF THE 150th ANNIVERSARY 



Second Congregational CnrECii 



OF GRKENWIOH. CONN.. 



WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER Tth, 1866. 



INCLUDIXG AN HISTORICAL DISCO URSE, 



By rev. J. H. LINSI.EY, D. D. 



HISTORICAL SKETCHES AND ADDRESSES FROM OTHERS. 



NEW YORK: 

CLARK & MAYNARD, PUBLISHERS, 

No. 5 BARCL.VY STREET. 

1887. 



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CO]^TE]SrTS 



PAGE 



Preliminary Proceediuga "? 

MORNING SESSION. 

Historical Discourse, by Rev. J. H. Lixslet, D. D H 

Appendix to the same, by W. A. Howe, Esq "19 

AFTERNOON SESSION. 

Address of Welcome, by Rev. W. H. H Murray 52 

Address by Rev. W. H. Moore, Sec. Coau. H. Miss. Soc 55 

History of Stillson Benevolent Society, by Dr. T. S. Pinneo 58 

History of Sabbath School, by P. Button, Esq., Superintendent 69 

Address by Rev. S. B. S. Bissell 77 

EVENINU SESSION. 

Address by Kev. Platt T. Holley 84 

Address by Rev. Joei, Maxx 87 

Address by Rev. Stephen Hubbell 91 

Address by Rev. Charles B. Lindsle y 95 

Letter from Rev. John Edgar 99 

Letter from Rev. David Peck 99 

Letter from Rev. Wii. Ireland, Missionary, Africa 1<>1 

Address by Rev. F. G. Clark, D. D 102 



VI CONTENTS. 

ENGRAVINGS. 

Second House of Worship (erected 1730) opposite p. 25 

Third House of Worship (erected 1 790) opposite " 51 

Fourth House of Worship (erected 1858) Frontispiece. 

Description 51 

Note.— Of the tirst House of Worshii). which probably Mood from about 1716 to 1730, no account 
haa been pn-strved. 



ONE HlXDKEl) AND FIFTIETH 

ANNIVERSARY 

or TUB 

SECOND CONGKEGATRLXAL CHIKCH, 

GREENWICH, CONN. 



At a meeting of the members of the Second Congregational 
Church of Greenwich, Conn,, held in March, 1866, it was re- 
solved, that the 150th Anniversary of the formation of the church 
should be celebrated on Wednesday, the 7th of the succeeding 
November ; that the Rev. Dr. Ltnsley. senior ])astor of the 
church, should be requested to deliver an historical discourse on 
the occasion, and that there should be such other exercises as 
the Committee of Arrangements might decide upon. 

The following gentlemen were appointed a Committee of 
Arrangements : — 

Dea. Philander Button, Dr. T. S. Pinneo, 

Dea. Jonas Mead, Mr. Wm. A. Howk, 

Mr. Edward P. Hollby. 

The following were subsequently appointed a committee to 
provide entertainment, decorate the church, and receive invited 
guests. 

GENTLEMKN. 

Mr. Isaac L. Mead, Lieut. Benj. Wright, 

Mr. Alexander Mead, Mr. Arthur D. Mead, 

Mr. Zophar Mead. Mr. George H. Mills, 

Mr. SHADRACii M. BRUbu, Mr. Joseph B. Husted, 

Mr. 1.71DEUN KtSWOLDS. 



PRELranNART, 



LADIES. 



Mrs. Edward Mead, 

Mrs. Philander Button, 

Jfrs. Dr. T. S. Pinneo, 

Mrs. Joseph Brush, 

Mrs. Augustus N. Reynolds, 

Mrs. Benj. Wright, 

Mrs. Dr. Hoyt, 

Miss Elizabeth M. Holley, 

Mrs. Stephen Holley. 

Mrs. Moses Cristy, 

Mrs. Nehemiah Howe, 

Mrs. Maj. D. M. Mead, 

Mrs. Chas. H. Seaman, 

Mrs. Wm. B. Sherwood, 



Mrs. Thos. Ritch, 
Mrs. LoCKWOOD P. Clark, 
Mrs. Caleb Holmes, 
Mrs. Alfred Bell, 
Mrs. Isaac Peck, 
Mrs. Jabez Mead, 
Mrs. Stephen G. White, 
Mrs. Henry M. Bailey, 
Mrs. Wm. T. Reynolds, 
Mrs. Lewis A. Merritt. 
Miss Hannah M. Mead, 
Miss Eliza J. Scofield, 
Mrs. Joseph E. Russell, 
Miss Louisa Mead. 



Invitations having been addressed to the former pastors of 
the church still living, and to other clergymen, the following 
responded by their presence or by letter : — 

Rev. Joel Mann, New Haven, Conn. 

Rev. Noah Coe, New Haven, Conn. 

Rev. F. G. Clark, D. D., New York. 

Rev. Stephen Iiu:BBELL, North Stonington, Conn. 

Rev. Platt T. Holley, Riverton, Conn. 

Rev. John Peck, Paterson, New Jersey. 

Rev. Samuel Howe, Greenwicli, Conn. 

Rev. John Edgar, Lisbon, Conn. 

Rev. W. P. Arms, First Church, Greenwich. 

Rev. R. B. Thurston, Stamford, Conn. 

Rev. S. P. Halsey, Stamford, Conn. 

Rev. E. D. Kinney, Darien, Conn. 

Rev. S. B. S. BissELL, Norwalk, Conn. 

Rev. Charles E. Lindsley, Southport, Conn. 

Rev. Charles E. Baird, Rye, N. Y. 

Rev. Peter B. Heroy, Bedford, N. Y. 

Rev. David Peck, Barre, Mass. 

Rev. Wm. H. Moore, Berhn, Conn. 

Rev. Wm. Ireland, Missionary, .Africa. 



PRELIMINARY. 



The church was decorated with festoons and wreatlis of ever- 
greens, tastefully intermixed with autumn flowers. Upon the 
wall over the speakers' platform was the following inscription : 






-^ 

^ 



*f 



^\^t Sf^ev^ 



«r 



1716. 



'?/-, 






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ntljcrs' <iob is #«r dob." 



► > <• > < -* 



The following was the Order of Exercises, as announced in 
the programme : — 



A. M. 

1 INVOCATION by Rev. Piatt T. lloUey. 

2 Re.-vding of the Scriptures by Rev. F. G. Clark, D. D. 

3 ANTHEM— "0 how Lovely is Zion 1" 

4 Prayer by Rev. Joel Mann. 

5 Historical Discourse by Rev. J. H. Linsley, D. D. 

6 Prayer ^7 R^^- ^^"^^^1 Ho^^- 

7 ANTHEM — " Praise ye tlie Lord." 

8 Benediction by Rev. Stephen Hubbell. 

2 



10 ruKLiMixAia'. 

Kecjesss for Collalion. 

P. M. 

9 AXTHEM. 

10 Welcomin'G Address bj' Rev. W. H. TI. Murray. 

11 HiSTORrcAL Paper by Mr. W. A. Howe. 

12 ANTHEM. 

13 History of Stillsox Benevolext Society by Dr. T. S. Pinneo. 

14 ANIHEM by Sabbath School. 

15 Historical SsErcnES of Sabb.vtu Schools by P. Bntton, Supt. 

16 Addresses by Invited Guests. 

17 ANTHEM by Sabbath School. 

18 Benedictiox. 

It was subsequently decided that an evening session also 
should be held, a report of wliich will be found in its proper 
place. 



MORNmG SESSION. 

At ten o'clock, a. m., the exercises opened with an Anthem 
by the Choir. 

Rev. Platt T. Hollet then invoked the Divine Blessing, 
after whicli, Dr. Claek not having arrived from New York, 
Rev. S. B, S. BissELL, by request, read appropriate selections 
from the Holy Scriptures. 

Rev. W. H. H. Murray, who for the two preceding years 
had supplied the pulpit (the senior pastor having retired from' 
active service), and who presided on this occasion, here invited 
the clergymen present, of all denominations, to take seats on 
the platform. 

The Anthem — " O how Lovely is Zion !" was then sung. 

Rev. Joel Mann (former pastor) offered prayer, acknowledg- 
ing the goodness of God in the marked prosperity of the 
Glmrch, and imploring His guidance and aid in building it up 
to still greater usefulness. The audience then listened to the 
following; discourse. 



HISTOKICAL DISCOURSE. 

BY REV. JOEL H. LtXSLEY, D. D., SEXIOR PASTOR OF THE CHURCH. 

This ancient church, the Second Con<j;regational Church of 
Greenwich, is just rounding out the 150th anniversary of its 
life : for tliough, through the want of early church records, we 
are unable to fix upon the precise day of its organization, yet 
we find that the General Assembly, meeting at Hartford, Octo- 
ber, 1716, granted leave, on petition for that purpose, to the in- 
habitants on the west side of Myanos River, " to embody them- 
selves in a church state with the a^^probation of the neighbor 
churches." The petitioners state that they desire this privilege 
with the special design of securing the minister then with them, 
the Rev. Richard Sackett. It is lair to presume that the 
organization promptly fallowed the enabling act. We assign 
the present month, therefore (November), as the time for that 
event, and we have come together to commemorate it. It is 
meet that we do this. It is a dictate of natural and right feel- 
ing, for to a very large portion of this community no event in 
our history is more deeply interesting than the founding of this 
church. Moreover, such memorial observances are encouraged 
by the word of God. If I needed a text for this occasion, what 
more appropriate one could be found than the words of Moses 
to Israel : " Remember the days of old : consider the years of 
many generations; ask tliy father, and he will show thee ; thy 
elders, and they will tell thee." (Deut. xxxii. 7.) I repeat, the 
establishment of an Evangelical Church, a church " built on 
the foundation of the Prophets and Apostles," is a most im- 
portant event. Such a church is in community a power for 
good, second to no other association. So thought our Pilgrim 
Fathers ; and hence, wherever it was practicable, the founding 
of the local chvr eh was coeval with, if it did not even precede, the 



12 MORNING SESSION. 

ori^anizatioii of the municipal government of the town,* Of 
course, those who think lightly of Christianity itself, will 
lio-htly regard its institutions. Hence it is the pleasure of some 
to decry tlie Church. But I challenge contradiction when I 
aftirm, that the history of this Commonwealth, and of every 
town within its borders, will prove that society, with all its 
interests, material and social not less than moral, lias flourished 
when the local chnrch has ilourished, and languished when the 
church has languished. I say this unhesitatingly, because the 
facts are "read and known of all men." If these things are so, 
then you ought to have magniiied the church by commemora- 
ting its one liunchrdth (Annirersary in ISK!, in tlie closing years 
of the elder Dr. Lewis's ministry. Then, many things were 
fresh in the minds of the people that are now bTiricd with the 
dead of that generation. You would have had a good time, 
and for your orator the most endeared, and, perhaps, the ablest 
pastor you ever had ; one, also, so long with you, that he was 
all but native to the place, and knew, of his oton hnoioUd(je^ 
much of what he would have had to discourse about. But as 
you let that opportunity slip, we come to the present, under 
disadvantages. For myself, I say, honestly, that I took the 
service you assigned me with many misgivings. It would have 
been more to my mind to have had it performed, if it might 
have been, by one wdio grew up in the midst of you, who knew 
every "highway and byway" of the place, and to whom every 
rock, and brook, and headland, and cove, and inlet, and ledge, 
and old stone wall was familiar as his home lot, and who drank 
in the inspiration of love for each and for all from his mother's 
breast. This would have been the "right man in the right 
place." However, so far as love for this church, interest in its 
history, and desire for its future welfare are concerned, I yield 
to no one, not even to your own children. But I will not 
detain you with further introductory remarks. Let me here 
sav, that the history of the early Congregational Churches is so 
bound up with that of the towns in which they are respectively 
located that you cannot separate them. But as this church is 

* It is -well known that some of the p.irly settlements were made by ehurches rather than hj- 
individuals; and, in sieneral, the irrowth of the former was the most rapid, and the social and 
edueational inflnenocs tho most ho.nlthy. 



HISTORICAL DISCOURRF. IB 

to-daj to be tlie prominent figure in our picture, we must not 
fall into the error of throwing it into the background. 

It is a familiar fact, tliat the part of Greenwich lying east of 
the Myanos* River, known as Old Greenwich, was purchased 
from its original Indian proprietors in 1640, thirty-two years 
in advance of this part of the town. The purchase was made, 
under the authority of the ISTew Haven Colony, by two well- 
known pioneers, Robert Feaks and Capt. Daniel Patrick. 
They came by water, and landed on what is known as Eliza- 
beth or Greenwich Point. f Tlie deed conveying the hand 
bears date July 18, 1()40, and is preserved in the early records 
of the town. Both of these purchasers settled at once on their 
land. They were very soon joined by another noted pioneer, 
Capt. John Underbill. Both Patrick and Underbill were 
military men, from the Massachusetts Colony, and the latter 
was prominent in the famous Pecpiot war.;}; Deforest, in his 
history of the Indians of Connecticut, while he concedes the 
soldierly qualities of these two captains, intimates that they 
had little sympathy witli the spirit of the Pilgrims, and sought 
a settlement at Greenwich rather as a retreat from their Puri- 
tanic religion and laws. I cannot vouch for the truth of this 
statement ; but, from their military associations and habits of 
life, it is not unlikely that they were more distinguished as 
veteran soldiers than as devout Cliristians.§ 

A few other settlers, perhaps eight or ten in all, soon made 
their homes upon the new purchase ; but beyond these, it does 
not appear that the settlement gained any material accessions 
for several years. In this respect, Greenwich differed from 
neighboring towns along the Sound. Fairiield, Xorwalk, and 

* The modern word is ^fiiDnin. 

t Elizabi4h was the name of Robert Feaks's wife, and the Point, or i\^ecl\ as it was called in 
the deed of purchase, bears her name, because, in that instrument, it was reserved to her as her 
pri vate property. 

J Underbill was with Mason at the stormin:; of the Pequot intrcnchmenls at Mystic ; but, 
according to the best authorities. Captain Patrick, with the Massachusetts forces, did not reach 
the scene of action. He, however, di:?tinguisluMl himself afterward in the assault upon the foe 
at Fairfield. 

§ Captain Patrick, only four years after his settlement in Greenwich, was killed at the house of 
his friend Underbill, in a quarrel with the commander of a Dutch force sent against the neighbor- 
ing Indians. The latter, however, seems to have provcked the quarrel. Captain Patrick left a 
wife and one son, but none of his name appear to have remained loner in Greenwich. In 1G44 
Captain Underbill married the widow of Eobert Feaks, and soon after reijioved to Flushing. 
Lon- Islan.l. 



14 MORNING SESSION. 

Stamford, tliough purchased about the same time, were settled 
more rapidly, the proof of which is seen in the fact that they 
were much earlier represented in the General Court of the 
Colony.* Adequate reasons may be assigned for the slow pro- 
gress of Greenwich in population. One is, that in this part of 
the town the aborigines lingered, and here, as everywhere else, 
when in contact with English settlers, proved bad neighbors. 
A stronger reason still is found ii] the fact that althougli Feaks 
and Patrick purchased under the lead of tlie New Haven 
Colony, yet, in 1642, they transferred their purchase to the 
Dutch Government of New Netherlands. This might have 
been reckoned shrewd policy for themselves, as under the 
Dutch laws they became lords of the manor ; but it proved 
disastrous to the town. It discouraged the best class of settlers 
from making their home here, as they preferred English to 
Dutch rule. Besides, the Dutch Government proved to be 
practically little better than no government, and every one did 
what was right in his own eyes. 

Aljout 167'), the town was so fortunate as to find in one of 
its early settlers, William Grimes, a noble and liberal-hearted 
man. Pie gave, by will, all his lands to the disposal of Joseph 
Mead, John Heynolds, and Eliphalet Jones, " for the use of 
the town, for the promotion of church and commonwealth.'' 
It is the more fit that this act of generosity should be recorded 
and honored in this public manner, as both the gift and the 
donor are in danger of being forgotten, no suitable memorial 
having been erected to perpetuate either. 

This part of the town, which the early settlers, for reasons 
no doubt satisfactory to themselves, slurred with the outlandish 
name of IJor!<enccl\ and which, as in most similar cases, has 
stuck to us like a burr, was not settled till 1672. The land 
w^as then purchased of the few scattered Indians who still lin- 
gered around the graves of their fathers. They were the rem- 
nant of a considerable community, whose principal village 
was built on the plain known as StricJdin Plain, directly 



* The luirchnse of Gri-c-nwich was several months in advance of that of Stamford, and its set- 
tlement bejran immeiliately. Trumbull appears, therefore, to be in error in dating the settle- 
ment of the latter In J G41 and the former in 1644. He probably proceeded upon the assumption 
that the establishment of a few families in a town hardiv rnsr to tlie diiriiitv of a settlement. 



HISTOKICAL DISCOURSE. 15 

north of the lower Coscob landino-, and but little removed from 
it. This villag'e was destroyed by the Dutch in 1644 ; and for 
many years after that event, tlie plowman, as he went his 
rounds, was wont to turn up in the furrow the sad mementos 
of the murderous conflict.* The association that effected the 
purchase was, and still is, known as " The 27 Proprietors 
of 1672." They were mostly persons already inhabitants of 
the town, men of property and substantial character. Hence 
they became the founders of families, most of which are per- 
petuated among us to this day. Thus, you find the Husteds, 
the Pecks, the Lockwoods, the Hobbys, the Eeynoldses, the 
Palmers, the Closes, and the ubiquitous and superabounding 
Meads. After this transaction there was a more rapid advance 
in the settlement of the entire town, and especially of the new 
purchase. 

Perhaps I shall find no better place to advert to a somewhat 
serious stigma which all the historians unite in fastening upon 
the early settlers of the town. I feel bound to say, however, 
that the charge, whatever it may amount to, appears, from its 
date, to fall wholly upon a few of the early settlers east of the 
Myanos River. In 1655, tlie deputies from Stamford to the 
General Court at New Haven complained of the inhabitants 
of Greenwich, charging them with divers disorders, to wit: 
" tolerating drunkenness, both among the English and the 
Indians, harboring runaway servants, marrying persons in a 
disorderly way, and pretending not to be under the govern- 
ment of the Colony, but of the Parliament, with divers other 
miscarriages." They call upon the New Haven government 
to attend to this matter, and to subject the people to wholesome 
laws. Now, to be candid, as Greenwich was a kind of border 
land between the Dutch and the Colonial authorities, and 
swinging back and forth between the two, I am afraid that 
these charges were not without some grains of truth. But I 
am bound to see justice done. I therefore say that it does not 
appear that Greenwich had notice of these charges, or any day 
in court. It is, therefore, mere ex j)m'te evidence, and must be 

* The expedition against the village was led b_v Captain Underbill, and was as exterminating 
as that which, under Captain Mason and the same Underbill, overwhelmed the Pequot fort at 
Mystic. It must be only a terrible necessity that can justify a fight in which no quarter Is given. 



16 MOKNOTG SESSION. 

received with caution. Moreover, if Greenwich had been repre- 
sented in the Legislature, she might have given the Stamford 
deputies serious trouble by pressing the well-known rule, that 
the party that comes into court to accuse another must come 
with " clean hands." Now Trumbull says, that just about this 
time Stamford also was behaving badly. The people there 
were themselves disorderly ; in fact, well-nigh in a state of 
rebellion against the very government they accused Greenwich 
with setting at naught. They, too, talked of being under the 
British Parliament, and not amenable to the government of 
New Haven. Unless, therefore, a little more light can be 
thrown on this point, it may be discreet for the present gene- 
ration of the Rippowams to covenant with the old Greenwichers 
to this effect : " If you will say nothing of what took place, 
auld Jang sijne^ on the ead side of Pottamog brook, we will 
lay our hand on our mouth as to what was done on the v^est 
side !" 

I have said the 27 Proprietors' purchase was in 1672. In 
1676, four years later, or thirty-six years after the first settle- 
ment of the town, the people began to feel the importance of 
something more than occasional preaching, which was all they 
had hitherto enjoyed. This long " famine, not of bread, but 
of the hearing of the word of the Lord," had doubtless begun to 
exert its influence upon the morals of the ])eople. It also 
repelled the best class of settlers. Accordingly, in full town 
meeting, the people " resolved to invite some suitable minister 
to come and live among them." Soon after, an invitation was 
extended to the Rev. Mr. Wiswell. This was declined.* In 
1678, a call was given to the Eev. Jeremiah Peck, of Eliza- 
bethtown, N, J. Mr. Peck was the son of Deacon William 
Peck, one of the first settlers of New Haven. After serving for 
several years as a teacher of the highest class of schools, he was 
licensed to preach, and removed to the eastern part of New 



* I have had piit into my hnnds, by Mr. William A. Howe, an interesting communication from 
the Rev. Charles M. Baird, Pastor of the Presbyteri.in Church. Rye, N. Y., touching the early 
religioys relations of Rye and Greenwich. From this account, it appears that the former town 
was settled in 1660, twenty years later than the latter, by three men from Greenwich bearing the 
name of Coe. One of these, John Coe, Jr., was active in religious matters. It further appears 
that in 1674 the Eev. Eliphalet Jones preached alternately at Greenwich and Eye. This was two 
yeai-s anterior to the call of the Eev. Mr. Wiswell. 



HIrfTORICAL DISCOURSE. 17 

Jersey, where he owned vahiable real estate. Being one of 
the 27 Proprietors ah'eady referred to, he naturally felt a 
special interest in Greenwich, as the people did in him. He 
accepted the call of tlie town, removed here, and became the 
stated preacher on the east side of the Myanos. That he was 
formally settled, except by the vote of the town, does not 
appear. Mr. Peck was undoubtedly a well-furnished and faith- 
ful minister. It is good evidence of his conscientiousness that 
he was opposed to what was then known as the "half-way 
covenant," a plan by which parents, not members of the 
church, procured baptism for their children, by " owning the 
covenant " of the Church, although they did not claim to be 
real Christians^ and did not as such come to the table of com- 
munion. His opposition to this lax practice gave offense to 
many of his congregation ; and the same thing was a fruitful 
source of strife and division in most of the churches of these 
colonies through a series of years. 

In consequence of this trouble, Mr. Peck, in 1689, eleven 
years after he began to preach here, accepted an invitation to 
Water bury. He was the first stated preacher there, and on the 
organization of the church, in 1691 (that is, as Mr. Morgan 
expresses it, " on their coming into Gospel order "), he was regu- 
larly installed as pastor. He continued there until his death, 
which occurred in 1699, in the seventy-seventh year of his age. 
He is spoken of as the progenitor of those who bear his honored 
name in this community. If so, the Pecks have a good deal 
to do to sustain the reputation of such an ancestor. 

The house in which Mr. Peck preached is said to have been 
not far from the head of the Cove. It was the first house of 
worship in the town, and, compared with those now in use, 
must have been a very rude affair. But the worshipers had 
the comfort of knowing that not i\\e place ^ but the spiHt of the 
worship, is what God supremely regards. 

In 1688, nearly fifty years after its first settlement, there 
were in the town but forty-nine legal voters. Most of these 
were then heads of families.* From the number of voters, we 



* In Major Mead's History of Greenwich, the extraordinary fact is stated, that the names of 
all these voters save one are represented by their descendants still in town. 
3 



18 MOKNIXG SESSION. 

infer tliat the number of inhabitants may have been from 250 
to 300. These were scattered over a considerable territory, 
and we may presume that the congregations assembling on the 
Sabbath would not ordinarily exceed from fifty to seventy-five 
souls. 

The people now seem fully awake to the importance of sus- 
taining religious institutions. So soon as Mr. Peck had retired 
from his post, we find them seeking a successor. In 1691, 
they secured the services of Abraham Pearson, and would 
gladly have established him as their spiritual guide ; but, 
regarding the weakness of the congregation, he preferred to 
preach simply as a snpply. Mr. Pearson graduated at Harvard 
College in 1068, and came here from New Jersey, where he 
had been for some years a successful preacher. He was ofiered 
the same salary as his predecessor, £50 with fuel or £60 with- 
out, and chose the latter. Here we find the first record of a 
tax of a penny on the pound for the support of the Gospel, 
though such taxes had doubtless been earlier voted. At this 
time, also, the people began to agitate the question of a new 
meeting-house, resolved to build, and appointed a building 
committee. But it was considered hardly in order to proceed 
without a controversy about the site or the style of the build- 
ing. They divided upon the first, and the contention was so 
sharp that for a series of years it delayed the enterprise, and in 
many ways hindered the success of the Gospel, and this too, 
although the little box they proposed to construct was to be 
only thirty-two by twenty-six, and was likely to stand but a 
few years. Thus it appears that cjuarreling about some point 
connected with building the house of God is no new fashion of 
our time. It came down to us from the fathers ; and I am 
not aware that we ever had any great trouble in conforming 
to the fashion on eitlier side of the Myanos. The church was 
finally built upon a small rise of ground northwest of the 
ancient burying-ground in old Greenwich. 

In 1691, while this controversy w^as still .in progress, Mr. 
Pearson, one of the ablest and most devoted ministers the town 
ever had, became disheartened, and accepted a call to settle in 
Killingworth. Subsequently, he was one of the principal 
founders of Yale College, in its original location at Saybrook, 



HISTORICAL DISCOURSE. 19 

and became its first rector or president.* Trvinibull says the 
death of President Pearson was a great loss to the college. 
Had the people here been united and in earnest he might have 
lived and died among them, and his protracted and able minis- 
try, like that of the elder Isaac Lewis, would doubtless have 
been felt for good to this day. 

The successor of Mr. Pearson was the Rev. Salmon Treat. 
He came here in 1695, but declined settling, on account of the 
controversy to which I have just referred. In 1096, this part 
of the town had so increased in population, that Jtlr. T)-eat 
divided his time between the two settlements. Where the 
meetings were held, or in what sort of a structure on this side, 
I have not been al)le to ascertain. But such is the geographi- 
cal position of this parish, and such the arrangement of its roads, 
that the place of public worship could never have been far 
removed from our present site. In 1697, Mr, Treat received a 
call to settle in Preston, New London County. He accepted 
it and removed tliere, after a ministry here of about two years. 
The condition of ministers in those early days was sufficiently 
Irving when the people were united. When they were divided, 
every prospect of usefulness was blighted. From the early 
records of coming and going, I judge the circumstances were 
such here, that devoted ministers tliought Greenwich a better 
place to enngrsite from than to emigrate to. We hope that 
those days are now gone by. I know nothing of Mr. Treat's 
character except what is implied in the significant fact, that the 
town, after a trial of his gifts, did, by a harmonious vote, twice 
press his stay permanently as their minister. 

In the same year that Mr. Treat left, 1697, the town, through 
their committee, gave an invitation to Joseph Morgan to 
become their minister. He accepted it, and began his labors in 
the latter part of the same year. His residence was east of the 
Myanos, but he divided his labors, as Mr. Treat had done, 
between the two settlements. There soon arose disputes as to 
the amount of pastoral labor which each should claim, and as 

* It may be tlrouglit by some matter of just pride to Greenwieli, that one of its early ministers 
became tbe first President of Yale College, and that at the time of the election of Timothy 
Dwight te that office, anotlier of its ministers, [saac Lewis, was spoken of as not among the least 
promin.'^nt candidates for that high tni.«t 



20 MORNING SESSION. 

Mr. Morgan favored the claims of the west congregation, his 
popularity with the other rapidly waned. This led, in 1700, to 
his removal to this part of the town. On this occasion he gave 
his reasons for the step in writing. The letter bears date May 
9, 1700, and is transcribed at length in Major Mead's history. 
Mr, Morgan gives three reasons for deserting the town, that is. 
Old Greenwich. " 1st. Because there is not unity in the place, 
viz., Greenwich and Horseneck, for the public worship of God. 
2d. Because I do not see a probability of there coming in gos- 
pel order.* 3d. Because masters of families do not lay restraint 
OH there families on the Sabbath night ; and I think it most for 
the towne's advantage that I desert the towne." This is the 
substance of the letter. Taking it as a whole, the orthography 
and the wording, even judged by the rules of the day, it does 
not make the most favorable impression ; though, as he was a 
graduate of Yale College, it will not do, I suppose, to criticise 
too closely. Liberally educated men often seem to feel that it 
is rather beneath them to mind such small matters as correct 
writing and spelling. Soon after this, Mr. Morgan removed 
west of the Myanos, and gave his time exclusively to this side. 
This, of course, widened the breach already existing between 
the two settlements, and soon originated measures for a division 
into two religious societies. These were consummated in 1701:, 
or early in 1705. This voluntary division is recognized in the 
articles of agreement for the division of the ecclesiastical pro- 
perty of the town, which, in 1705, were ordered to be entered 
on the town records. I quote the first part : — 

"Art. 1. That from the date of these [presents] there be a 
liberty of calling, encouraging, and settling the ministry, 
according to the way of this colony, in two societies, one on the 
west as well as the east side of Myanos River." 

This article sanctions the division, so far as the parties are 
concerned ; and the other articles make a division of the pro- 
perty. The line of division between the parishes was to run 
from a point on the Sound, north and parallel to the east line 
of the town, so as to intersect the point wdiere the Brothers 
Brooks meet, and on, to the north line of the town.f This 

* This is unilfrstoml to mean a chiiiv/i fitdfe, no church liaving been organized. 
t Tlii< (loint we understand to be near ^\r. Tlieodore Mead's sawmill. 



# 



HISTORICAL DISCOUKSE. 21 

division was sanctioned in Jannary, 1T13, by tlie General Coni-t, 
on report of their committee. Tlie committee, however, while 
they report in favor of the division, express a doubt wlicther 
the congregations are strong enough to sup])ort two ministers. 
TJiis division, tliongh made amicably at the time, was soon 
found inconvenient, as the population of the town gradually 
moved westward. Many families on the west side of the 
Myanos were included in the east parish who were far from 
that center, but comparatively near to this. This evil became 
so great, that it was at length made a subject of complaint to 
the General Court. Indeed, the attempt to establish lines be- 
tween parishes, as practiced in those days, was fruitful onlj'- of 
trouble. In these latter times, we have found out a " more 
excellent way," and that is, to leave the people to worship 
wherever convenience, or inclination, or even 2^jpervei'se loill, may 
lead them. That the population was, about this time, setting 
strongly westwaixl, appears from the fact that in 1703 it was 
ordered, for the first time, that town meetings should be held 
alternately on either side of the river. 

We must now return to Mr. Morgan, for we left him still the 
minister of this congregation. He may have been a man of 
fair natural gifts, and of orthodox views, but there are indica- 
tions that he was not greatly given to study. At least, he was 
not so wrapped np in his books that the Indians, if any still 
lingered about these parts, were in danger of describing him as 
they did Davenport at Quinipiac (New Haven), as the " big 
study man." It seems that in 1705, to encourage and sustain 
Mr. Morgan, the right had been granted to him to build a mill 
at the mouth of Coscob River, now known as Davis's Mill. He 
built the mill, and went to live near it, that he might manage 
it in person, and see that his i^eople's grists were 'toell ground. 
The congregation, after a while, thought his zeal in this matter 
was rather greater than they had bargained for, especially as his 
position down at the mill made him inaccessible to the people, 
and rendered his visits among them angel-like, "few and far 
between." Finding remonstrance, however, vain, they first 
referred the case to the neighboring ministers, to saj' what 
should be done. This showed forbearance on their part. 
Meanwhile the good brother, as he had to take his salarv. 



99 



MORNING SESSION. 



according to tlie custom of those early times, in grain, and a short 
allowance at that, thought it wise to stick to his mill. Where- 
upon the Ilorseneck people, never wanting in spirit when spirit 
was called for, grew impatient. They sent their committee, 
Ebenezer Mead, Joshua Knapp, and Caleb Knapp, chief men 
among them, to press the question to an immediate decision, 
whether Mr. Morgan would quit personally tending his mill 
(adding this, perhaps, to all their other objections, that a white 
dress was not in character for a Congregational minister), and 
attend to the parish. If he would not, they were to strike oif 
his official head at a blow, and provide a successor, Xow the 
inventions of our day are wonderful, especially in the line of 
sharp-cutting machines, mowers, reapers, et cetera ; but our 
congregations, I will venture to say, have invented no instru- 
ment for disposing of refractory ministers that can go ahead 
of this ecclesiastical guillotine of 1708. Matters were now 
brought at once to an issue. Mr. Morgan decided to abide by 
his mill, and the committee decided to consider the pulpit 
vacant and provide a successor.* 

In the old society, the ministry of the Rev. ]S"athaniel Bowers 
began soon after Mr. Morgan left them, and ended there nearly 
at the same time as Mr. Morgan's here, extending from 1700 
to 1708, or possibly to 1710, when he made his last record on 
the books of the church. f Soon after his withdrawal, the Rev. 
John Jones preached for a short season ; but we have no evi- 
dence that either congregation had any permanent supply for 
several years. A ministry divided, as it had been here, between 
the pulpit and a purely secular calling, for eight or ten years, 
would not be likely to strengthen the things that were already 
weak and ready to die. 

In 1712, this society sent up their petition to the General 
Assembly in regard to the division line between the two socie- 

* Up to this time, all votes for the call or dismission of ministers were by the toicn, either 
directly or through a special committee appointed for that end. Later, votes for this particular 
purpose, it is believed, were not given by the town, but \,y each society for itself. 

t It is a singular fact, disclosed in the manuscript records of towns and religious societies in 
the State Library at Hartford, that Old Greenwich, so late as 1T07, petitioned the General As- 
sembly at Hartford for " leave to be embodied in State ecclesiastical, with conseut of neighboring 
churches; a necessary preparation," they say, "as we conceive, for the settlement of Nathaniel 
Bowers." We are ready to ask. whether it is possible that, at the end of si.\ty -seven years from 
the settlement of the town, no church is formed. It would seem so. 



HISTOEICAL DISCOUESE. 23 

ties, and eiitbrccd it by a statement of the distribution of fami- 
lies relative to the two centers ; showing the hardship of its 
operation. Under the circumstances, neither congregation felt 
itself able to support a minister. The next year, 1713, we find 
the town debating the question of a central house of w^orship, 
apparently designed for the wdiole population. With such a 
view, they decide that the best place to build was at a point , , 

between the residences now occupied by ^jprnmnl -A. Close and ^'^'^ 
Cephas Palmer, This would be, as you perceive, near the geo- 
graphical center of the town."^^ But this plan was abandoned. 

The following year, 1714, Old Greenwich complains to the 
General Assembly " that they are supporting Mr. Jones as 
their minister, liorseneck having none ; and as they have con- 
sented to have preaching midway between the two societies," 
they ask that "the w^est society be required to contribute to the 
support of the preaching, according to law and equity." The 
next year, 1715, we find another petition from Old Greenwich, 
of the same purport, for redress of grievances, and a very plain- 
spoken document it is, setting forth that a dividing line 
between the two societies had been settled, and they say : — 

" We have gone on, and by God's blessing obtained Richard 
Sackett to be our minister, to our great content in a general 
w'ay. ISTevcrtheless, several persons in tliis society, animated 
by some at Horseneck, do drag hack, and by several of their 
• mismanagements have greatly discouraged tlie minister and 
the work of the ministry, so that the town is likely to be wholly 
destitute. As to the division line of which they complain, we 
conceive they are in no w^ays damnified by it, they being desti- 
tute of a minister, and, so far as we perceive, remain contented. 
Wherefore we pray your Honors, that they be ordered to pay 
their part." 

I do not find that the General Assembly granted the order 
here so urgently pleaded for. As I have said, the congregations 
were both really weak, but we cannot avoid the impression that 
they were greater on petitions for help than on putting their 
shoulders to the wheel. This, however, may be a false infer- 

* In my historical sketch of 1S5S, I mistook this action for a vote to build a house for this 
Society. 



(f"^ 



-4 MORNING SESSION. 

ence.* Before my attention was called to this action of the old 
society, I had supposed that Mr. Sackett beo;an his ministry 
here, but it now appears that, as in the case of Mr. Morgan, so 
Mr. Sackett preached east of the Myanos mainly, for some time. 
His stated ministry in this parish has been supposed to have 
commenced in 1717. From a petition, however, to the General 
Assembly from the inhabitants west of the Myanos, bearing 
date May, 1716, it would appear that Mr. Sackett had either 
begun to supply exclusively on this side, or had engaged to do so. 
This petition refers again to the old division line between the 
two congregations, and the hardship of its operation, and adds, 
that such favorable action had been taken on a petition for a 
separate organization the year before, that they " had been en- 
couraged to go forward and secure the services of Mr. Sackett," 
and they now repeat their request, that, with a view to his sup- 
port, they be permitted to organize themselves into a distinct 
society, with the Myanos River, and not the Brothers Brook, for 
their eastern boundary. On this renewed petition, it appears 
that, at the same session, May, 1716, the General Assembly 
took the action already referred to. I quote the resolution as 
passed : — 

" Besolved, That the inhabitants of Horseneck, on the west 
side of the Eiver Myanos, shall be a distinct society, till this 
Court shall order otherwise, for the encom-agement of the min- 
ister now among them." 

This act organized the Society ; but a separate act was 
passed at the next session, in October, with reference to the 
organizing of the church. ]S"ot claiming the right to do this 
by their own action, they pass what we may call an enalMng 
act, in these words : — 

" Liberty is by this Assembly granted to the inhabitants of 
Greenwich, on the w^est side of the Myanos Eiver, to embody 
themselves into chm-ch estate, with the approbation of neighbor 
churches." 

I here repeat the remark already made, that the circum- 

* Mr. Wjlliam A. Howe fnrnislies the following facts : In 1715, there were seventy-seven fami- 
lies within the present town limits. There were fiftv-one families east of the Brothers Brook 
line, and twenty-six in Horseneck. Of the fifty-one families in the east parish, twenty-eight were 
west of the Mianus River, and fifteen of these were in North street. Clapboard Eidge, and Stan- 
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HISTORICAL DISCOURSE. 25 

Stances under which these resolves were passed warrant the 
inference that they were promptly acted upon, and that the 
Consociation of Fairfield West, formed 1709, seven years ear- 
lier, was called together as a council to organize this church. 
The enabling act having been passed October, 1716, we date 
the oro:anization of the church in November following. I 
regret that it should have taken so much time to reach the 
actual establishment of the church, but it was unavoidable, as 
truly so as it was for the sacred historian to narrate the perils 
of the sea and the wilderness through which Israel passed, even 
until they reached the land of promise, before he described 
their state after they had gone over Jordan and become settled 
in the land. 

The records of this ecclesiastical society, recently found, 
extend from May 12, 1720, to March 2, 1784, more than sixty 
years, bringing down a narrative of the main points to the set- 
tlement of Isaac Lewis, Sen. It is a valuable document, and 
throws light on important portions of our history.* One of the 
first votes recorded, December, 1720, constitutes Joshua Rey- 
nolds and Daniel Smith a committee to call all former collectors, 
since Mr. Sackett's settlement, to account, with power to prose- 
cute for neglect or refusal. In these days of tenderness in deal- 
ing with official neglect, this would be regarded as bold and 
stringent action. But it was doubtless demanded, for in the 
reference to Mr. Sackett's settlement, some four years earlier, 
there is an intimation that, through the remissness of the collect- 
ors or the people, or hoth, his salary had fallen into embarrass- 
ing arrears. 

Four years later, December, 1721, we find the following action : 
" Voted to build anew meeting-house, fifty by thirty-five feet." 
And at an adjourned meeting, a month later : 
" Voted, that the new meeting-house be located between the 
present one and Angell Husted's new dwelling-house."t 

* I am indebted for a copy of the records to Mr. William A. Howe, to whose careful study and 
accurate knowledge of the early history of the town and its ecclesiastical records I am under obli- 
gation for many valuable facts and suggestions. Had I possessed the Society's records alluded to 
when I drew up the historical sketch of 1858, it would have saved me ft-oin several serious errors. 

t Mr. Howe has collected, from tradition and ancient records, sufiicient information to lead 
to the belief that the engraving on the opposite paare cannot be far from an accurate representa- 
tion of the second building erected by the Society. [For desoription, see Appendix.] 
4 



'26 MOKNING SESSION. 

It does not appear, however, that the new house was to go 
up by any very rapid process, since, at the same meeting, they 
voted to repair the ohi house and to build galleries. When or 
precisely where this old house was built, as we have already 
seen, does not appear. Its style of architecture or its finish no 
man knoweth ; but we may safely assume that it partook more 
of the Doric than the Corinthian order ; tliat it lacked some of 
the " modern improvements," especially the pnlpit improve- 
ments, and that no Eidlitz was needed to draw the plan. The 
vote to build galleries in the old house, standing alongside the 
vote to build a new one, seems rather odd, but it indicates a 
growing attendance on the means of grace, and a pressing call 
for more seats. 

Let us now recur to Mr. Sackett's ministry. It has been 
heretofore supposed to begin at this point, 1717 ; but, according 
to the petition already quoted, he began to preach to this con- 
gregation the year before, and his ministry continued to his 
death, in 1727, eleven years. Mr. Sackett was a graduate of 
Yale College, of the class of 1709, He is reported to have 
been of a mild temper and pleasing manners, and to have been 
much beloved by his people. His family remained here after 
his decease ; and there are numbers here and elsewhere to bear 
up his name. 

On the death of Mr. Sackett, the church and society extended 
a call to Stephen Monson, which was accepted, and he was 
installed May 29, 1728. He was a young man, younger, it is 
believed, than any of his predecessors in either congregation, 
havino- but iust finished bis theological studies. He was a 
graduate of Yale College, of the class of 1725. His pastorate 
continued but two years, when he was removed by death. 
The loss of two pastors, so near each other, together with the 
sums settled upon each, accoixling to the custom of those days, 
was a serious discom-agement to this then young and feeble 
church. It calls forth an appeal for aid to the only home 
missionary society which feeble churches had then to look to — 
the General Assembly of the colony — and it seems that the 
appeal was not made in vain. As we want something to 
relieve the sobriety and perhaps the tediousness of our narra- 
tive, I do not think I can do better than introduce this petition. 



HISTOEICAL DISCOUKSE. 27 

Its rhetoric is quite moving, and the Society was fortunate in 
having a genius able to produce it. It bears date October, 
1730. After referring to the death of their pastor, Mr. Mon- 
son, so soon after his settlement, and so near the death of Mr. 
Sackett, and the expenses necessarily incurred, they speak of 
the burdens thrown upon them by their new house of worsliip, 
and add, " that though but a small community, we do not 
seem to be all the children of one father ; for some have 
enlisted under the banner prelatical, and some under the ban- 
ner yea and nay " (which, being interpreted, we presume means 
the Quaker banner), ^' and how far the leaven may spread, we 
fear more than we are sure of; wherefore, we entreat your 
tender concern for our Society, and pray that the country or 
colony rate of Greenwich for the year past may be paid to our 
Society." The request, as I have said, was granted. 

But, notwithstanding the Society was poor, their burdens 
heavy, and money hard to be got, they seemed determined not 
to be deprived of the ordinances of the Gospel. In the same 
month in which the petition was offered, October, 1730, they 
called Rev. Samuel Sherman, He declined the call, and in Jan- 
uary, 1731, a call is extended to Ebenezer Silliman. This also 
was declined. In December following we find a vote which 
seems to imply that they had called Mr. Daniel Granger, and that 
the call had been accepted. The vote for his salary, as marking 
the times, is worthy of preservation. They ofter him £50 for 
three years, in silver money, at eight shillings per ounce, or wheat 
at four shillings per bushel, or Indian corn at two shillings per 
bushel, with firewood and the use of the parsonage land; and after 
three years, £70, with the same privileges ; also as settlement, 
£200 current money of the Colony of Connecticut, to be paid in 
six years.* If Mr. Granger was actually settled as pastor, his 
ministry must have been very brief. Oflicially, we may say, he 
died suddenl}'-, and " made no sign." Tradition says that some 
difficulty occurred soon after his settlement, which led to his 
dismission. July 12, 1732, a call was given to Abraham Todd, 

* There is a mystery in regard to Mr. Granger, as there is nothing further concerning him, 
except two votes; one, Dec. 1733, that the Society's committee make up accounts with the collec- 
tors of Mr. Granger's rate, implying that he had received a regular salary, and that at his leaving 
his position, arrears were due him ; the other vote, a year later, appointing a committee •' to go to 
Mr. Granger, and do the best they can for the Society, in their [nesent difhcullies I" 



^8 ''MORNING SESSION. 

which he accepted. He was to receive as a sahiry £100 per 
year, in " bills of credit of the Colony of Connecticut," or in 
grain at current prices; after three years, £30 to be added 
yearly. He was also to be furnished with fuel, and to have 
the use of the parsonage lands. To all this was to be added a 
settlement of £200. This, for a Society still comparatively 
weak, both in numbers and in resources, was a liberal salary. 
It has even occurred to me, whether, considering the value of 
money, compared with the articles of living then and in later 
times, it was not quite as liberal as any the Society has ever 
voted since. Of this I am certain, I am acquainted with one of 
Mr. Todd's successors, who on coming among you would have 
found it quite convenient to receive, over and above his salary, 
£200 settlement. The vote of the Society to concur with the 
Church in relation to the ordination of Mr. Todd, and to call a 
meeting of the Consociation for that purpose, bears date Octo- 
ber 6, 1732. At the same meeting, they appointed Capt. James 
Reynolds their attorney to oppose the prayer offered to the 
Honorable xlssembly by part of said Society, and part of the 
inhabitants of Stamford, "that they may withdraw from our 
said West Society of Greenwich." This is understood to have 
been a petition for the pur})Ose of forming a new Society at 
Stanwich. Such a movement is rarely made without encoun- 
tering opposition. It is believed, however, that the prayer of 
the petitioners was granted, and the First Congregational Soci- 
ety of Stanwich was incorporated. 

Mr. Todd's pastorate of forty years was the longest this 
church has ever enjoyed, ending only with his death, in 1773.* 
The records of the Society already referred to, show that in 
Ma}^, 1772, Mr. Todd was unable to preach, and the Society's 
committee are authorized to procure a supply for three months. 
In November following, they ask the advice of the Association 
in relation to a candidate to preach on probation. 

It was the custom of the Churches in Mr. Todd's day, to keep 
very scanty records. It would seem either that paper and ink 
were very scarce, or writing a greater drudgery than it now is. 

* I will bei-e state wlint seems to be a fact, without attempting to assign the cause, and that is, 
that thr average length of the pastorates in this Cunsi-egation, during the largest part of its his- 
tory, has been less than in most others of equal strength. 



HISTOEICAL DTSCOrESE. 29 

All the recorded transactions of Mr. Todd's extended ministry 
could he copied out on much less than a sheet of foolscap. There 
is no record of admissions to the Church, and but a single case 
of baptism, although it is certain that there were numerous in- 
stances of both.* Hence the difficulty of giving any account 
of Mr. Todd's ministry. He graduated at Yale College, in the 
class of 1727. His settlement in this parish was five years later. 
He came here, therefore, a young man ; and it is no small 
praise, in times of poverty and general depression, and in a con- 
gregation in which changes had been frequent, that he main- 
tained his position with credit to himself and general acceptance 
for a lifetime, I believe he is the only pastor of this Church 
whose ashes are garnered in either of our public burying-grounds; 
and, considering the length and usefulness of his ministry, I 
submit whether it is altogether creditable to the congregation, 
that, to this hour, no suitable monument marks his resting-place. 
I might now dismiss the subject of these remarks and hasten 
forward with my narrative ; but under Mr. Todd's ministry, and 
only eight years after it began, there arose the most remarkable 
religious movement that marks that century, if not any century 
of New England's annals. I refer to the "Great Awakening" 
of 1740. If I had a record of all the occurrences which took 
place here in connection with this memoi'able epoch, and time 
pei'mitted, I should detain you much longer than I now propose 
to do. There is a tradition, bow reliable I know not, that Mr. 
Todd referred his own conversion to that season of marvelous 
revival. We know that some of the pastors of the Churches of 
that day did so, but that Mr. Todd was among them, I would 
not assert. I am, however, satisfied, contrary to my former 
impressions, that he was deeply interested in the work. 

It should be understood that preceding the period referred 
to, the Churches generally had sunk into a very low state. 
Formalism had supplanted spirituality. There had been no 
special, certainly no general, religious revival for a long period ; 
indeed, we may say none from the first settlement of the colony 
that had produced a deep and general impresion. As, in a por- 
tion of the early settlements, none were allowed to vote who 

* There is a record of the renunciation of Judaism, by Abm. Hays (changed by the printer to 
Boyt, in my Discourse of ISoS), and of two votes of the church. 



30 MORNING SESSION. 

were not professors of religion, there was, of course, a pressure 
of worldly men upon the doors of the Church. This was one 
source of corruption. Admission on the plan of the " half- 
way covenant," already referred to, was another. The early 
Indian wars, the inadequacy of the means of grace, and the 
peculiar temptations of pioneer life, all combined to depress the 
moral and religious interests of the country. Add to all these 
the fact, that the pulpit had become lax in doctrine and greatly 
deficient in earnestness. This was, in brief, the state of things 
in New England, when the revival commenced. It spread 
rapidly. In many townships the excitement was intense, and 
pervaded nearly all classes. It was a matter of course, that in 
communities not thoroughly instructed in the doctrines of reli- 
gion, nor favored with discriminating preaching, and in wdiich 
revivals were a new and strange thing, there should be more or 
less wildness and disorder. Many could make no distinction 
between these and the work itself ; whereas that work, especially 
in its earlier stages, had all the credentials of a true work of 
God ; while the irregularities which it carried along with it 
were the olFspring of inexperienced and fallible men. The irregu- 
larities led to divisions, both among ministers and their people. 
Out of these sprang up a new sect or party, known as Separates. 
In many cases, meeting with opposition, tliey drew oflf from the 
old established Churches, and worshiped apart in private houses, 
or such public structures as they could command.* 

Tradition informs us, for church records are silent, that this 
religious interest prevailed here, and was not wanting in the 
peculiar characteristics I have indicated. There are persons 
still living among us, who knew some of the eye-witnesses of 
those scenes, and others who were more or less under their 
influence. They report that many of the meetings were exceed- 
ingly noisy. Some of the preachers, and especially the exhorters, 
encouraged the most boisterous demonstrations. They strove 
to add to tlie excitement and the outward expressions of it by 
raising their voices to the highest key, and by indulging in vio- 
lent agitations of the body. It was to be expected that such a 
course would lead, as it did, to prostrations, swoons, and trances. 

* U will be seen that so far as Mr. Todd was concerned, ray statement in 185S was erroneous. 
Mr. Todd's sympathy with the movement probably prevented any sepai'ation in this church. 



HISTORICAL DISCOURSE. 31 

Through the kindness of Deacon Jonas Mead, I have been fur- 
nished with a brief, but very interesting paper in regard to 
things of this sort which transpired in this religious society. I 
have time only for a single extract. 

" The Great Awakening of 1740, and the years immediately 
following, deeply affected this Church and community. The 
first converts were generally sound, steadfast, and consistent; 
but those who came forward during the later stages of the work, 
were subject to high excitements and great excesses, professing 
to hear voices, have visions and trances. In these trances they 
would lie, apparently insensible, for hours together, and when 
revived, would say that they had been to heaven, and seen the 
Book of Life, and whose names were in it. Many would crowd 
around to learn whether their names were there. Numbers 
professed great skill in deciding who were truly converted. 
They were also forward in prayer and exhortation, and in 
relating their religious experience." 

Notwithstanding these disorders, it cannot be denied that 
some of the best and ablest ministers in New England were 
engaged in promoting this work, and endeavoring to hold up 
the truth, and prevent or correct whatever was wild or fanatical. 
Among these was Mr., afterward better known as Dr., Bellamy. 
My informant proceeds : — 

" I have heard Dea. Silas Mead say, that he was once at Mr. 
Todd's house, when several persons were relating their remark- 
able experiences. Mr. Bellamy was walking the room and list- 
ening ; when, evidently not favorably impressed with the matter 
or manner of the narrators, he suddenly turned and exclaimed, 
'Away with all your experiences! A hypocrite can tell as 
good an experience as the best of you, and be a hypocrite still. 
Let me see a holy life.' Dea. Silas Mead was himself one of 
the first subjects of the work, and died at the advanced age of 
ninety-six. He, however, retained to the last, as did many 
others, his fear of night meetings^ erroneously attributing the 
disorders which crept into such meetings to the darkness of the 
sky rather than of the mind. It is remarked of those who were 
carried away with high excitement, that they did not generally 
hold out well, and some such fell into great and scandalous 
sins. An individual of a diff'erent character, who, thousfh sbar- 



32 MORMING SESSION. 

iug in the excitement, seemed to have been truly converted, on 
being asked afterward, what, on a sober review, she thought of 
these things, replied, 'I do not know what to think; but one 
thing I know, I did not feign it.' " 

The effects of these extravagances were long continued, and 
are doubtless felt even to this day. They led the fathers to 
check all zeal and activity in young converts, as indicating false 
conversion. A worthy member of this church, now dieceased, 
gave as a reason why he could never pray in public, that all 
attempts in that direction were discouraged in the early part 
of his Christian life by the older members of the Church ; they 
telling him that it did not promise well for the young converts 
to put themselves forward. The prejudice against "night 
meetings," as they were called, was well-nigh invincible. More 
than half a century after the period to which I have been refer- 
ring, and even down to the opening of the present century, the 
older ministers and members of the churches were dead against 
all meetings after nightfall, regarding them as the sure precur- 
sors of disorder. The first attempt to hold such meetings, when 
the state of feeling loudly called for them, was attended with 
"fear and trembling." I am informed that the first effort to 
hold any meetings on week-days, aside from the preparatory 
lecture, was as late as 1807 ; and it resulted in a monthly meet- 
ing in the afternoon, conducted wdiolly by the minister and the 
deacons. I have only to add, that, while the deep sleep of the 
Church was thoroughly broken up by tliis religious movement, 
and numbers of the pastors and members of the churches 
received a lasting impulse in the right direction, it cannot be 
doubted that the disorders and excesses which sprung from it 
produced a deplorable reaction, that w-as felt for many years. 
In our day the philosopliy of revivals is better understood. 
The fruits are seen to be good, and, when the work is guided by 
wisdom, only good. 

/ For about one hundred years after the settlement of Green- 
wich there was no regular preaching except by Congregational 
ministers. Occasional services wci'e held liy Episcopal clergy- 
men as early as 17-iO. In 1717 Dr. Dibble, an Episcopal mis- 
sionary, divided his time equally between Stamford and Green- 
wnch. Through his efforts tho first Episcopal church was budt, 



HISTORICAL DISCOURSE. 33 

in 1749, near the brow of Putnam's Hill. Of tlie dimensions 
of the building or the number of worshipers I am not inform- 
ed ; but presume that, like most country congregations, during 
those times of trial, it had to struggle with many discourage- 
ments. Its second house of worship was, as we all know, but 
recently removed to give place to the present more permanent 
and tasteful structure, and the Society, under its rector, the Rev. 
Benjamin M. Yarrington, has become strong and flourishing. 

We now resume our narrative of the affairs of this Church 
after the death of Abm. Todd. I have already spoken of 
the application of the Church to tlie Association of Fair- 
field West for advice — a very safe custom of the olden time. 
By approval of that body, December, 1772, Amos Butler was 
employed until May. Afterwards a vote of November, 1773, 
implies that the Rev. Jonathan Murdock had been supplying, 
doubtless as a candidate for settlement. Februarj^, 177'!, he 
received a call, which he accepted. The Society vote, as his 
salary, £100 lawful money, and £200 settlement. Tlie parson- 
age lands are reserved to the Society, and the usual grant of fuel 
is, for the first time, omitted.* For some cause there is delay 
in the arrangements for Mr. Murdock's settlement, and that 
event is given as occurring October 20, 1774. This, it will be 
recollected, was the year preceding the opening of the Revolu- 
tionary War. Major Mead shows clearly in his history, that this 
people, as a body, were, during that long struggle, highly 
patriotic. Men and women nobly bore their part in all the sacri- 
fices required to bring it to a successful issue. I should be 
glad to enter into some detail on this subject, but time will not 
permit : I must refer you to the history itself. Greenwich w^as 
for a long time, while the British held New York, border-land 
between the two contending parties ; and was the plundering 
ground of the unprincipled of both. The waves of destruction 
swept to and fro. Fire, and sword, and thieving left to the 
inhabitants almost nothing but the naked earth. f The poverty 
which ensued appears from the fact, that, in 1781, Mr. Mur- 
dock released the Society from their obligation to pay his salary, 

* Another vote concerns the customary day of fasting and prayer preceding the installation, 
t At the close of the war, the town made earnest application to the Legislature for some com 
pensation for their losses, but without any favorable result. 



34- MOKNING SESSKIN, 

and ceased preaching.* In 1784, the Society imited witli the 
Clinrch in requesting his dismission. Partly perhaps to secure 
arrearages of sahiry, he declined uniting in this request. The 
Church called a meeting of the Consociation, and presented a 
lono; list of charges against the pastor, some of which, as is 
common in such cases, appear very frivolous. But two of them, 
if proved, must be considered substantial. One is, that Mr, 
Murdock was not faithful in applying the truth to the con- 
sciences of his hearers, so that he would hardly disturb an 
intidel ; and the other, that he was not loyal to the Colonial Gov- 
ernment; but that, in 1779, he carried a flag to the foe, made 
submission to him, and encouraged trade with him. Consocia- 
tion was called, June 17, 1784, to consider these charges^ and 
Mr. Murdock was heard in defense, but no issue was reached. 
The body adjourned to March 2d, 1785. The record of this 
second meeting I have not been able to obtain ; but, as it is 
understood that Mr. Murdock was regularly dismissed, under a 
compromise of the matters in dispute, it is fair to presume that 
a judgment of guilty was not pronounced. This is confirmed 
by the tradition, said to be well founded, that he was again 
settled over a Church in some part of the State. 

We have no important results of Mr. Murdock's history 
recorded. Undoubtedly, the hindrances to success were at that 
time very great, and there may have been something in the 
charge that his preaching was not the most thorough. He was 
a graduate of Yale College, of the class of 1766. On his retire- 
ment, the Rev. Mr. Austen supplied the pulpit for several 
months. 

The Rev. Isaac Lewis, Sen., succeeded Mr. Murdock. He 
preached as a supply three months, when a call was given him 
to become pastor of the Church. The call was accepted, and 
he was installed on the 18th of October, 1786. He was then 
just forty years old. In 1793, Yale College conferred on him 
the deo-ree of D. D. He was also, for several years, a trustee 
of that institutioji . His pastorate of thirty -two years was longer 
by many years than any you have ever enjoyed, save that of 
Mr. Todd ; and considering the depressed condition in which, on 

* July, 1783, Consociation make their first record of Greenwich, 1st. This occurs in reference 
to the employment of Robert Morris. 



HISToEIOAL DISCOUESE. 35 

his setdeme5it, he found all tlie interests of this commnnity, 
both moral and material, none have surpassed it in usefulness. 
I quote here from a sketch of Dr. Lewis, in " Sprague's Annals 
of the American Pulpit," prepared in part by Dr. Hewitt : — 

" When he took charge of the Church in Greenwich, he found 
it in a divided and broken condition. It consisted of forty- 
seven members. The place was suifering, both in property and 
morals, from the disastrous effects of the Revolutionary War. Pie 
contributed largely to the support of his family by opening a 
school in his own house, which he continued for several years. 
Under his earnest and effective ministry, the place gradually 
rose from its depression, religion revived, the Church was 
strengthened, and the whole state of thiiigs took on a new and 
more encouraging aspect. Near the close of Dr. Lewis's min- 
istry, in 1817, a precious revival was enjoyed, w'hieh added 
materially to the membership of the church.''' 

By tlie testimony of all, Dr. Lewis was a great and good man 
— wise in counsel, and faithful in labors. There are some pres- 
ent to day who remember him when in his full strength. In 
person he was tall, and of commanding presence and voice. 
He was a good scholar, and a forcible preacher. His sermons 
were for the most part writt^i out, and so far committed to mem- 
ory, that, ordinarily, he made but little us eof his notes, though 
he was careful to carry them with him.* When he did use them, 
he was closely confined to them. In his delivery he was highly 
animated, especially in the concluding part of his discourse. 
In 1818, Dr. Lewis voluntarily resigned his office, in the seventy- 
third year of his age. In reply to the remonstrances of his 
friends against this step, as premature, he is reported to have 
said, " Now I know that I am an old man, and ought to retire ; 
but if I go on a few years longer, I may perhaps first doubt, 
and then denj it." He died August 2Y, ISIO, at the advanced 
age of ninety-four — died in the peace of God, and in the blessed 
hope of that Gospel which he had so long preached to others. 
His funeral sermon was preached by Rev, Noali Coe, then ])as- 
tor of the Church, from 1 Cor. iii. 11 — "For other foundation 
can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ" — the 

* It is sonipwbat curious to observe the differences in the iminessions of diflferent persuns 
amipng bis surviving hearers in regard to the vise he made of noles. 



36 MORNIXG SESSION. 

very text of Whitefield's sermon, delivered in Yale College 
chapel, three-quarters of a century before, which was the means 
of awakening young Lewis's mind to the great snbject of his 
salvation.* 

Dr. Lewis's successor in the pastorate was his son, Isaac 
Lewis, Jr. He was installed on the same day that his father 
was dismissed, December 1, 1818. Under his ministry, in 
1823, there occurred one of the most powerful revivals with 
which the Church has ever been favored. It added largely to 
its numbers and strength. It was under his ministry, in 1827, 
that this church dismissed seventeen of its members to organ- 
ize the church in North Greenwich. It was a timely and im- 
])0i-tant movement, as that Church, thougli never large, because 
not the center of a large population, has to tliis hour maintained 
a vigorous life, and done its full share for the advancement of 
the religious interests of the community. Mr. Lewis's dismis- 
sion occurred April, 1828. He afterwards acted as pastor of the 
Congregational Church in Bristol, Rhode Island. To the close 
of life he supplied vacant pulpits with acceptance, and was 
always held in high esteem by his brethren. He graduated at 
Yale College, in the class of 1791: ; in 1844 received the degree 
of D. D. from Delaware College. jHe died in the city of JSTew 
York, September 23, 1854, at the age of eighty-two, and the 
closing scenes of his life were every way worthy of a Christian 
and a minister of Christ. 

* Dr. Lewis was nut a poet, ami did not claim to be one. The audience were therefore taken by 
surprise when the delivery of this discourse was here suspended, that the choir might sing the 
following stanzas, taken from a hymu written by him in some leisure moment, and found among 
his papers : — • 

Awake, my soul! arise and sing 

The glories of our heavenly King ; 

id is love transcends the highest praise 

That heart can feel or voice can raise. 

In God Most High, what love was found; 
Love without measure, without bound ; 
His great Eternal Sou He gave, 
The guilty heirs of hell to save. 

Now, mercy's kind, endearing voice 
Presents free pardon to our choice ; 
Now all who bow to sovereign grace, 
In Ciirist shall find a welcome place. 



HISTORICAL DISCOUESE. 37 

On the retirement of Isaac Lewis, Jr. from the pastorate, the 
Rev. Rufus Saxton, then preaching as an Evangelist, supplied 
the pulpit for several months. He is spoken of as having been 
an eminently godly man, and a discriminating and able 
preacher. Early in the spring of 1828, there began a special 
religious attention in the Academy, then in charge of the Rev. 
Mason Grosvenor, Mdio from the lirst took a deep interest in the 
spiritual welfare of his scholars. The work became general 
in May, and, through the labors of Mr. Saxton, was soon ex- 
tended throughout the congregation. It continued through the 
summer. Meetings were characterized by a full attendance 
and deep seriousness through the busiest months of the season ; 
and while worldly men predicted disaster and short crops, it was 
remarked that the business of this farming community went on 
prosperously, and without let or loss through the entire sunmier. 
From this the people learned two impoi'tant lessons — one was, 
that zeal and hdelity in the great concerns of the soul do not 
interfere with success in secular alfairs ; the other was, that the 
pressure of worldly business can never be honestly pleaded as a 
reason why God's work should not be carried forward, and 
souls converted to Christ, thus demonstrating the great practical 
truth, tliat Christians ought always to be active and prayerful, 
" always abounding in the work of the Lord, in the confidence 
that their labor shall not be in vain in the Lord." 

About one hundred souls were reckoned as the fruits of this 
work of grace, and some seventy were united to the Church, 
making up nearly threefold for the dismissions to form the 
North Greenwich Church. 

The next pastor was the Rev. Joel Mann. He was installed 
September 1, 1830. He was abundant in labors, and had a 
very prosperous ministry. There was almost a continual revi- 
val, and large accessions were made to the Church. Mr, Mann 
was dismissed at his own request, August 23, 1836. I feel 
bound to add, that no pastor which this Church has ever had 
has reason to look back upon the work which, under God, he 
accomplished, with more satisfaction than Joel Mann. There 
are many who welcome him here to-day with unalloyed plea- 
sure, and rejoice that they have the opportunity of showing him 
that they esteem him very highly in love for his work's sake. 



38 MORNING SESSION. 

We wish a pleasant evening to his life under the shade of the 
noble elms of the Ebn City^ and only regret that, in deciding 
on his home, he did not choose to breathe the purer air that 
sweeps over the hills of our beloved Greenwich.* 

Mr. Mann's successor was the Kev. Noah Coe. After preach- 
ing several months as stated supply, he was installed as pastor 
May 23, 1837, and continued as such until May 20, 1845. Mr. 
Coe's labors, previous to his settlement, were blessed to the 
healing of serious divisions which existed at the time, and his 
ministry, as a whole, though not greatly extended, Avas a suc- 
cessful one, adding about two hundred to the Church. Of these 
accessions, the largest was the fruit of the revival of 1839 — 
perhaps the most extensive which the Church ever enjoy ed.f 
It added about ninety to the membership of the Church. Mr. 
Coe left the Church considerably larger in numbers and stronger 
in resources than he found it. 

On Mr. Coe's retirement, the pulpit was su]:)plied for more than 
a year by Rev. Frederick Gr., now Dr. Clark, of the 23d Street 
Presbyterian Church, Xew York. This congregation have 
been thought rather remarkable for their partiality for gray 
hairs in the pulpit.:|: They went very wide of this, liowever, 
when they engaged the services of Mr. Clark, then jnst out of 
his theological studies. Doubtless they acted on the principle 
that all general rules have their exceptions. The result seems 
to have justified, their discrimination. Mr. Clark was not only 
abundant in labors, but his labors were attended with marked 
success. In the brief period in which he preached as a supply, 
about thirty persons professed conversion and were added to 
the Church. After Mr. Clark's term of service had expired, 
the pulpit was supplied for more than a year by Rev. Ebenezer 
Mead and Rev. George Bushnell. 

The ministry of the speaker began here December 8, 1847. 
He withdrew from the active duties of the pastorate in 1863, 

* We must take this occasion to say, that onr town is well known as having the most elevated 
position, and commandins; the finest views, whether of land or water, of any place on the coast 
between New York and Boston. 

t In this revival, and in several later ones, the Church enjoyed the abundant and effective labors 
of the Rev. E. D. Kinney, of Darien, so honored of God at such seasons. 

t They, at least, have not been open to the sharp rebuke of Prof. Shepherd in his able paper, 
read before the late National Congregational Council, at Boston, that " the churches now not only 
wanted ' railk for babes,' but also desired babes to dispense the milk." The Pastors of this church, 
for more than eightv years, have none of them been under forty when settled. 



HISTORICAL DISCOURSE. 39 

at the age of seventy-three, for which he had tlie example of 
the elder Dr. Lewis. But in one respect his example was not 
followed. I did not ask for, nor did the people, so far as I am 
aware, desire, the dissolution of the pastoral relation; and the 
bond remains still unbroken. Dr. Lewis, contrary to the wishes 
of his people, insisted on a dift'erent course, but there is reason 
to think that afterwards he regretted that he had done so. I 
see no reason to detain you with further details, either with 
regard to the results of my ministry, or of events within the 
knowledge of all. It is a source of satisfaction to me to know 
that neither under my own ministry, nor that of my young 
brother, who has now for nearly two years supplied your pulpit, 
has the Church lost ground. I hope we can go further, and say 
that there has been a gradual advance in strength during the 
entire period of now nearly twenty years, and that, remaining 
united, — "striving together for the faith of the Gospel," — your 
prospects for the future were never more fair.* 

I deem it proper, before I conclude these remarks, to allude 
briefly to one or two topics so connected with the subject and 
the occasion that their omission would hardly be pardonable. I 
will first notice the fact, that as Major Mead demonstrates the 
loyalt}^, public spirit, and devoted patriotism of the people of 
Greenwich, nearly a century ago, in the great struggle for 
achieving our independence, so I feel it my duty to bear testi- 
mony to the same spirit in the shorter, but not less momentous 
conflict for preserving what they won. 1 would not sadden the 
occasion by calling to mind the sacrifices, not of property only, 
but of life^ which this community laid on the altar of their 
country ; but I wish to say, that in this matter the record of 
this Church and congregation, and, I may add, of the other 
churches in the town, is one of which we have no reason to be 
ashamed. We sent forth, to strengthen the hands of the Gov- 
ernment and save the nation, our proportion of good and true 
men. I am not aware that any of them "turned back in the 
day of battle," or brought a stain upon themselves or their 

* My ministry liere, including several months of pulpit supply after my active pastorate had 
closed, extended over nearly seventeen years. During that period the Church was favon^d with 
four seasons of special religious interest, in all of which important accessions were made to the 
Church, leaving the membership larger than at any previous period of its history. The Church 
numbers about three hundred and thirty members. 



40 MORNING SESSION. 

friends ; but I know that the 10th Connecticut, to which Green- 
wich contributed its share both of officers and men, won fair 
laurels on every field of conflict where duty called, and made 
for themselves a noble record, a record as enduring as these 
eternal hills on which we stand. Did time permit, I should 
like to make in this connection tit mention of what a patriotic 
band of ladies, chiefly of this village, did to sustain and cheer 
our soldiers in the field — among whom I feel bound to say that 
some of the ladies of the Episcopal Church were, to say the 
least, second to no others in zeal and efliciency. I liope I may 
without impropriety add, that while one of my predecessors in 
this Church, whose pastorate covered the period of the Kevolu- 
tionary War, is charged, I say not rightfully, with disloyalty and 
sympathy with the enemy, the speaker indulges the confidence 
that in our more recent, but not less vital struggle, this charge 
at least will not cleave to him, or to any that bear his narae.^ 

Next I notice the example of this Church in the matter of 
Christian liberality. 

I once called on the late Koger Minot Sherman, the distin- 
guished advocate, at Fairfield, while I was yet a stranger to this 
place, to ask the aid of the people there for a public institution. 
He said to me, " I approve of your cause, and we will do some- 
thing for it ; but, if you want a good lift, I advise you to call 
on the Church and congregation of Greenwich 2d ; you will find 
them both able and willing." When I afterward came here, 
you justified his commendation, for you gave me at least a 
tliiixl more for my object than any other country congregation 
to which I had applied, and I had visited not less than one hun- 
dred in difterent parts of New England. Dr. Hewitt speaks 
also of the liberality of this Church in his sketch of the elder 
Dr. Lewis. He thinks Dr. Lewis's large and philanthropic 
heart, and earnest advocacy of every good cause, had something 
to do with forming this character. I do not know, of my own 
knowledge, how this is ; but I am sure that the noble example 
and steady influence of his now sainted daughter (Sarah) had 
much to do with it; and I could mention other earnest co-work- 
ers with her, of her own sex, who have greatly helped forward 
this blessed ministry of charitable giving. The Stillson Benevo- 
lent Society, an association of ladies, of now nearly forty years' 



HISTORICAL DISCOUKSE. 41 

standing, has done a great and good work, not only abroad but 
at home. ISTo similar association^ within my knowledge, have, 
with their own hands, worked so long and so efficiently for 
spreading the Gospel among the destitute of our own land. 
With reference to this way of doing good, I am ready to say to 
its members: "Many daughters have done virtuously, but ye 
have excelled them all." In regard to this matter of liberality, 
this people have to thank God not only for the heart to give, 
but for the means with which to do it. No farming town in 
Connecticut has been more prospered in its husbandry, and in 
all its material interests, than Greenwich. At particular periods, 
this prosperity has been unexampled. Add to this, also, the 
vast benefits of the temperance reformation, in preventing tbe 
waste of what your industry had gained. How auspicious its 
bearing upon all your interests, temporal and spiritual ! And 
bear in mind, this reformation you owe to the Gospel, so that 
the Gospel has given you back good measure, pressed down 
and running over, for all you have paid for its support and 
spread. And now, when temperance men everywhere com- 
plain of reaction — here^ the cause, through the fidelity of your 
pulpit, has latterly, as 1 understand, taken a large stride in 
advance. I do not know that it is too much to say that, as a 
congregation, you stand, as becomes you, in the front rank of 
the great army of abstainers from all that can intoxicate.* 

I notice, in the next place, the cause of education. Touching 
this great public interest, I may say your record is fair. Con- 
sidering your pecuniary ability, you can hardly claim any pre- 
eminence. When I first knew Greenwich, in 1847, your dis- 
trict school-houses were all behind the age. Crowded closely 
on the public highways, without pleasant yards or trees for 
shade, small structures, " well stricken in years," poorly ven- 
tilated, cold in winter and hot in summer (the inside view 
affording no relief to the outside), the experience of the chil- 
dren might well be described as "the pursuit of knowledge 
under difficulties." But the spirit of reform and improvement 
came, stimulated and hastened by the meeting here of the 

* The pastors of this church have been, from the elder Dr. Lewis down to this time, throutrh the 
■whole period of the temperance movement, its decided friends and supporters, both preaching 
and practicing abstinence from all Intoxicating liquors. 
6 



42 MORNING SESSION. 

Teachers' Institute. It soon overturned nearly all the old 
structures, and replaced them by new and decidedly better 
ones.* 

Our academy was founded nearly forty years ago, pre- 
eminently, as I have been assured, tln'ongh the efforts of the 
late Dr. Mead. It has always held a respectable rank, yet has 
labored under the disadvantage of straitened room for the 
accommodation of students, narrow grounds around the build- 
ing, and no endowment. Of course, it now suffers from a 
comparison with many similar institutions in the State; and it 
will suffer more and more, until the public spirit of the people 
is aroused to place it on a more liberal footing. The necessities 
of this growing and wealthy community call for a more com- 
modious building, enlarged grounds, a pjhilosophical apparatus, 
globes, maps, and a small but well-selected library, chiefly of 
scientitic books, for the use of the students. All this will, we 
trust,, soon be accomplished, for the honor of Greenwich and 
the good of her children and youth. No other investment of 
money would pay so well or be half so secure. This town will 
not for many years, if ever, be a place distinguished for busi- 
ness, or a rapid advance in population. On this very account, 
it is all the better for a place of quiet homes, and as a seat for 
the best educational institutions. Such institutions will secure 
for us the best class of inhabitants — those having competency 
if not wealth, and distinguished for intelligence, culture, taste, 
and good morals. That education has not here, as yet, taken 
that advanced position which it is entitled to, appears from the 
fact that we have not our fair proportion of college graduates. 
Moreover, the number of our young men who have entered 
the learned professions is not equal to that of many smaller 
towns. You have indeed given to the medical faculty some 
excellent physicians, who have practiced here and elsewhere 
with re[)utation and success; but you have educated very few 
lawyers. Perhaps you might account for this on the ground of 
your low estimate of the profession, were it not for the fact that 
the lawyers themselves have always given you the credit of 
being among their best clients — battling hard and paying well. 

* Only one or two of the old ones remain, and thty cannot long stand up against the march of 
improvement 



HISTORICAL DISCOURSE, 43 

This Cliureh has given more of her sons to the sacred office than 
to both of the other learned professions united. Yet compared 
with other Churches of equal strength, I do not know that you 
can claim in this respect any pre-eminence. Here is the list, 
nearly in chronological order'. 

1. First come two sons of Ebenezer Mead, 2d. Abraham, 
who labored at East Hampton, L. I., for a brief period with 
success, was a minister of much promise, but died young, 1742. 

2. Solomon, who exercised a useful ministr}'- of about f-jrty- 
.eight years in South Salem, N. Y., where he died in 1813. 

3. 4. Zacharias and Isaac, Jr., two sons of Isaac Lewis, 
Sen., were educated with the ministry in view; but the former, 
finding that his health required a more active life, reluctantly 
turned to other callings. Of the latter, Isaac, Jr., I need not 
speak, as bis useful public life is well known, and has already 
been referred to. 

5, Mark Mead, son of Deacon Jonas Mead, was born 1T82, 
was graduated at Yale College, was a successful pastor of the 
church in Middlebury, in this State, for twenty years, and 
afterward preached for a series of years in the service of the 
Home Missionary Society. He was a very thorough Bible 
scholar and theologian, and wherever I have been on the track 
of his ministry, I have found a uniform testimony to the sim- 
plicity, purity, and devotedness of his ministerial life. He died, 
August, 1864, at the age of eighty-two, 

6. Ebenezer Mead, the sixth of that name, son of Ebenezer, 
labored with great zeal and success in Western New York, 
probably beyond his strength, and returned here with broken- 
down health, and died December, 1848. Most if not all the 
other ministers who have had their birth or home in Green- 
wich, and nearly all members of this Church, are still living. I 
will therefore merely give their names and parentage. 

7. Darius Mead, the son of Isaac Mead. 

8. Platt Tyler Holley, the son of Isaac Holley. 

9. Samuel Howe, the son of Isaac Howe. 

10. Enoch Mead, half-brother of the Ebenezer just men- 
tioned, now retired from the active duties of the ministry. 

11. Whitman Peck, the son of Samuel Peck, 

12. John Peck, the son of Elias Peck. 



44 MOENUSTG SESSION. 

13. William OxTrnGER, partially educated by members of 
this Church. Field of labor, Pennsylvania. 

14. Zechariah Mead, the son of Jonas Mead, went South, 
became a member of the Episcopal Church, and is supposed 
not now to be living. 

15. Isaac Peck, the son of Isaac Peck, now connected with 
the Episcopal Church. 

16. AYiLLiAM Ireland, of the Zulu Mission, S. E. Africa. 
To these perhaps we might add the name of 

17. John Edgar, who was a member of this Church, and 
prepared for college in our academy. All, or nearly all, of the 
ministers above mentioned, who have been ministers in our 
branch of the Church, have been graduates of Yale College. 

I call this a fair record, but repeat, that it does not give us 
any pre-eminence over sister Churches. Some smaller Churches 
in this State can boast larger numbers of liberally educated 
men, and especially preachers of the Gospel. 

I would gladly here introduce some account of the deacons 
of this Church, but the list is necessarily incomplete, and I will 
only give the names, furnished me by the clerk of the Church, 
of the earlier officers down to the ministry of Isaac Lewis, Jr., 
as those who have held the office since are most of them still 
living : — 

1774. Ebenezer Mead, 2d, and Elnathan Mead, under the 
pastorate of Mr. Murdock, both died soon after the date just 
named. 

1775. Eli Kundle, who died during the ministry of the elder 
Dr. Lewis. 

1776. Jonas Mead, son of Ebenezer Mead, 2d, died 17^3. 
1783. Silas Mead, brother of Jonas, died 1817, aged 97. 
1789. Abraham Mead, the third son of Ebenezer Mead, 2d, 

who held this office, died 1827. 

1798. Ebenezer Mead, grandson of Ebenezer, 2d. 

1815. Elisha Belcher, died December, 1825. 

It is the gratuitous taunt of the scoffers, that deacons' sons 
(and I believe ministers' sons are put in the same category) are, 
as a general rule, rather extra wild and wicked. Here, then, is 
a fine opportunity to test the question. We have in the hrst 
place Deacon Ebenezer Mead, with eleven sons, enough, if the 



HISTORICAL DISCOUKSE. 45 

alleged rule prove true, to make his home a perfect pandemo- 
iiium. But what are the facts ? Three of his sons were his 
"worthy successors in the deacon's office. As already stated, he 
had two sons, Abraham and Solomon, devoted and successful 
ministers, and a sixth son was a highly respectable member of 
the medical profession. Can any family in this community, 
who may love to scout Puritan strictness, or thorough religious 
training, show a fairer record ? And if the objector is disposed 
to pursue the comparison among the later officers of this church, 
whether pastors or deacons, he is welcome to do so. 

Thus I have gone over the long track, not of 150 years only, 
tlie period since the founding of this Church, but of some two 
centuries, since the early pioneers purchased for themselves 
and their successors this fair inheritance, and began to make 
the ax and hammer of civilized man to resound through these 
haunts of savage beasts, and more savage men. I could not do 
justice to my theme without these details, which, though taxing 
your patience, you would hardly have had me suppress ; for by 
means of these alone can the past be made to live and stand 
before you. How else could you see the fathers and mothers, 
the early generations, here in their true character, rude it may 
be in person, plain in dress, and blunt in manners, but strong, 
courageous, self-denying, hsittYmg Jlrst with the wilderness, the 
wolf, and the savage, then with British dragoons, and more 
merciless Tory plunderers — always hopeful, laborious, frugal, 
and, as a body, public spirited — loyal to their country, to liberty, 
and truth — and out of their deep poverty rearing their humble 
temple to God, and sustaining His worship. Their sufferings 
were many, their self-denials great, and the work they did, can, 
in its cost to them, or its blessings to us, never be duly appre- 
ciated, nor should ever cease to be gratefully remembered. It is 
the least we can do to cause those early scenes, struggles, and 
trials, and the chief leaders in them, to pass often before us, 
and render honor to whom honor is due. One word more — 
for it would ill become a preacher to deliver a discourse of such 
length without a single reflection, when his Puritan predeces- 
sors were accustomed to go up to fifteenthly if not to twenty- 
iifthly, and the people bore it like martyrs. In the first place, then, 
how rapidly, during the 150 years under special review, have 



46 MORNING SESSION. 

the wheels of Providence been rolling us forward toward a 
brighter age of the world. How great the advance already 
made, — greater^ w^e believe, far greater, than in any period since 
the race e^^isted. Suppose, in contrast with things as you see 
them to day, you could bring all things into your field of vision 
just as they appeared in 1716, when you became a distinct 
religious society — the farms, the fences, the crops, the flocks and 
herds, the roads, the bridges, the modes of traveling, the attire 
of the people, especially on the Sabbath, the school-houses, the 
churches, the books in use, and generally the means of knowl- 
edge^ and the rapidity of its circulation-^would not the contrast 
be impressive, almost beyond the imagination to picture?* 
Suppose you could put Robert Feaks, and Captains Patrick and 
Underhill, and a large committee of the early Jfeads, and 
Knapps, and Hohhys, aiid Pecks, and Reynoldses, and others of 
the leading pioneers, on the lookout from the steeple of this house 
some bright and cloudless day — give them good glasses, and 
let them sweep round this grand amphitheater, and survey this 
goodly heritage which they passed over to us^snrvey it just as 
it appears in all its summer glory, with its smiling fields, its 
rich verdure, and richer fruitage, its handsome dwellings, 
public and private (always excepting our shabby Town House), 
its coasters riding in every inlet and roadstead, its proud steamers 
dashing through the (piiet waters that lave our shores ; atid 
above all those chariots of fire, tliat, thundering along our iron 
w^ays, send their echoes alike througli craggy steep and lowly 
vale, and shake with their giant tread the everlasting hills — ■- 
let, I say, the eye see, and the mind grasp at one view, these vast 
changes, this mighty revolution, and who can express the 
wonder, the amazement that would overwhelm them 1 These 
would be i\\Q first emotions^ but the second would, perhaps, be 
a feeling of pride, not un mingled M'ith gratitude to God, for 
what their children, by His blessing, had wrought. Moreover, 
as their hearts swelled with the bright vision before them, at 

* Even within the memory of some now living, not a pleasure-carriage was owned in the town 
The older members of the family rode on inllidiied horses, and the younger members walked on 
the Sabbath to the house of God. In the summer, coats were thrown off on the way, and often- 
times in the church, as comfort might require. If a good man was troubled with drowsiness 
during the service, any position was deemed proper that would save him from so great a sin and 
shame, and he rose and stood bolt upright ; or, if he was iij the gallery, the tithing-man was on 
hand to give him .a friendly rap, 



HISTORICAL DISCOURSE. 47 

how low an estimate thej would place all their labors, self- 
denials, and sacrifices, which, as precious seed sown in tears, 
liad ripened into such a glorious harvest. 

Then again, this review has brought me to the same con- 
clusion which Dr; Bacon, in similar circumstances, reached in 
his series of discourses delivered at the two hundredth anniver- 
sary of the founding of the first church in New Haven, though 
I could hardly hope to express the sentiment with equal force 
and beauty. It is in substance this : " That the golden age of 
the world is not in the past f'' and ''that they are not wise who 
are forever preaching that it is so." "If any one is infected 
with this error, and wishes a thorough cure, I connnend him to 
the study of the annals of this or any other Christian commu- 
nity for 200 years. Let him go into full details in every depart- 
ment, intellectual, social, and religious — details which the 
limits of this discourse have permitted me barely to glance at, 
and he will return satisfied that there is a good age, a hetter 
time coming." I cannot resist the temptation to quote the 
closing remarks of the author alluded to ; they are in so happy 
a vein, and withal have such a true ring of cheerful confidence 
in the future, that if you are weary you will forget your weari- 
ness the moment tliis chord is struck : 

" The world is always full of a certain sort of conservatism, 
which places the golden age not indeed quite so far back as the 
heathen poets placed it, but just far enough to create constant 
despondency. You can ahvays find those who think that age 
somewhere from fifty to two hundred years ago, and that ever 
since that favored day, the world and the Church together have 
been growing worse. Such persons are not ordinarily very 
well read in history, but they have a strong impression that in 
those good old times every thing was very nearly as it should 
be. That was the age of orthodox theology, and of pure revivals 
without new measures. That was the age of tranquillity in the 
churches, sound principles in politics, and purity in morals. But 
alas for us ! we are fallen upon the most evil days and evil times 
that mortals ever lived in. This class of conservatives has been 
in the world at least ever since the deluge, and how long before, 
no man knoweth ; and always ' they have croaked on the same 
key — like the hypochondriac, who, on every day in the year, is 



4:8 MORNING SESSION. 

better than he was yesterday, but worse than he was the day 
before.' " 

The truth is, my hearers, that of all the days since our Pilgrim 
Fathers anchored the Mayflower fast by the Plymouth Rock ; of 
all the days since Peaks and Patrick cut the waves of the Sound 
with their light boat, fastened her to Elizabeth Point, and by 
peaceful purchase took possession of these fair fields for civilized 
man, this is the best and brightest, the one in which it is the 
greatest privilege to live. That our children, and children's 
children, are to see a still brighter one, I hope — nay, I believe; 
and when we scatter at the close of this auspicious occasion 
from this beloved hill of Zion, let us retire with gratitude for 
what our fathers bequeathed to us from the past — with rejoicing 
in the present, that " the lines have fallen to us in these pleasant 
places," and with full purpose of heart that, God helping us, 
we will transmit a still richer inheritance to those w^io shall 
come after us, even to the latest generations. 



APPENDIX TO HISTORICAL DISCOURSE. 

EXTRACTS FROM PARISH RECORDS. 

The following extracts have been selected by Mr. Wm. A. Howe from early records, as illustra- 
tive of the history of those times. The spelling, capitals, &c., are ftiithfully preserved. Such 
remarks are added by Mr. Howe as are necessary to explain and connect the whole. 

"At a meeting of the society, may the 12 day 1'720, The society by vot do order 
& appoint Timothy Knap, Jonathan hobby & Jonathan Renalls to seat the meeting- 
house & further by vot do order that the society shall be warned by seting two 
writtings up six days before the meeting, one upon a tree by John RenaUa Jun'rs 
and the other Left, Renalls & further Joshua Knap & Jonatlian renalls are chosen 
to renew the bounds of the parsonage." 
"Sept. 6. n20. 

By vot the sosiaty do disanull the act past in may the 12 day 1720 & that for the 
futare the meeting shall be warned by word of mouth till further order." 

The above are the earliest recorded acts of the society. The first record of the 
annual meeting is that of December 16, 1720, at which Caleb Knap was chosen 
moderator ; Joshua Knap, Clerk ; Capt. Caleb Knap, Lieut. James Reynolds, and 
Benjamin Mead, the society and school committee ; and John Hubby and Samuel 
Mead, collectors for the year ensuing. Lieut. James Reynolds and Daniel Smith 
were chosen "in the behalf of the Sisiaty to call all the colectors to an acount and 
to prosacut them upon thear refusaU or neglect that have been colectors sins Mr. 
Sacit has bin amongst us." Mr. Sackett was given £7 12s. to procure firewood 
with. 

December 20, 1722. At the annual meeting, and thenceforth till 1775, the lowest 
bidder provided fuel for the minister. At this time, Samuel Mills was to provide 
the wood for £6 7s. 

In 1723, it was voted "that the minister's rate should be paid in wheat, at six 
shillings per bushel, or in Indian corn at three shillings per bushel, or in current 
money of the colony." 

December 18, 1724. The society voted to build a new meeting-house, 50 by 35 
feet, and at an adjourned meeting in January, 1725, to locate said house between 
the old church and Angell Husted's new dwelling-house. It was also voted to 
postpone the erection for five or six years, and to repair the old house, and to 
build galleries in it. 

The first house of worship probably stood a Httle to the west of the present one. 

The one erected in 1730, stood about where the front of the present one is. It 

was 50 by 35 feet, and was surmounted by a turret, which was taken down in 

1749. There were three doors, one at each end, and one on the south side of the 

7 



50 MORNING SESSION, 

house ; the pulpit was on the north side. There were twenty square pews around 
hy the sides of the house, and four pews back of the slips in the center of the 
church. There were also five in the south gallery. In 1730, the school committee 
became distinct from the ecclesiastical society's committee, but both were chosen at 
the same meeting. There were then at least two schools in the West Society, one 
of which was above the " mile and a half line," or the present northern limits of 
the Meeting-house district. 

In 1738, it was voted that Mr. Todd should preach at Round Hill, on the first 
Sabbath of each month. 

We find that in 1747, five shillings in New England money was equal in value 
to one shilling New York money. 

In 1756, school district committees were first chosen by the Society, and were 
as follows : — 

Horseneck — Dr. Amos Jlead, Daniel Smith. 
Coscob — Benjamin Trean, Epenetus Holmes. 
North Street — Caleb Mead, Nathaniel Mead. 
Peck^s Land — Theophilus Peck, Isaac Howe. 
Bound Mil — Jonathan Knapp, Jr., Ezekiel Lockwood. 
$Mate-'ffl«S^^Eliphalet Mead, John Close. 

November, 1764. ''Voted to sing in the congregation without reading line by 
line." 

" Theophilus Peck enters his protest against the doings of the meeting on 
account of altering the singing." 

Annual meeting, 1766, one hundred years ago. Benjamin Mead was chosen 
Moderator; Peter Mead, Esq., John Mead, and Capt. Thomas Hobby, Society's 
Committee ; John Mead, Clerk ; Elijah Mead, Collector. The collector was to have 
Is. 3d. on the pound. New York money. Samuel Ketcham to provide fuel for Mr. 
Todd, for 153. per cord, and Dr. Amos Mead was to "inspect and see that the 
wood is good and well corded." School district committees were, for 

Horseneck — Henry Mead, Matthew Mead. 
North Street — Horton Reynolds, Joseph Hobby, Jr. 
Feck's Land — Theophilus Peck, Jr., Isaac Howe. 
Coscob — Nehemiah Mead, John Hitchcock. 
Bound Hill — John Holmes, Peter Smith. 
Quaker Ridge — Benjamin Mead, Jr., John Clapp, 
Byram — Joseph Wilson, James Lyon. 

Also, by vote, said society set off Jeremiah Lockwood, Caleb Reynolds, Samuel 
Mills, Odell Close, Sylvanus Mead, and Benjamin Peck, to the Peck's Land school 
district. The Society's Committee were to "take care of the loan money for the 
use of the schools in the West Society," and were empowered "to demand, sue for, 
levy, and collect all such moneys and interest which is due thereon, and receive 
the money of the constables out of the country rate." 



t 

4. 



>^1? 










*, \><l''^ "-^^ -i.^'?'-- 








J U/i of OiU'drr'>U/<e/ SI >.«)s'(//.i/ A V 



ADDEESS OF WELCOME. 51 

Id. 1771, the Society voted to build a steeple, if the money could be raised by 
subscription. It was not built. 

The third house of worship was erected in 1798, and finally completed in 1802.* 
In 1818, stoves were procured. There was considerable opposition to their intro- 
duction. On the first Sabbath morning, some of the congregation felt very uncom- 
fortable, and could not endure the excessive heat, but were much relieved on 
finding at noon that the stove had had no fire. 

At the conclusion of the Historical Discourse was sung the 
Anthem, " Praise ye the Lord," and the morning exercises closed 
with Benediction by Rev. Stephen Hubbell. 



EECESS FOR COLLATION. 

A bountiful collation had been spread in the chapel and 
lecture-room by the ladies, to which all were cordially invited. 
The good ladies brought their larders and hearts unstintingly 



* Ofthe^rst house of worship there has been preserved no account: of the second, erected 
in 1730, a sketch has been made from record and tradition (see page 25); an engraving of the 
third, erected 179S-1S02, may be seen on the opposite page. An excellent lithograph of the pre- 
sent building, erected lS56-'58, and built of solid granite, forms the frontispiece to this pamphlet. 

The following description of this edifice is taken from Dr. Linsley's Commemorative Dis- 
•course, delivered at the last meeting held in the old bouse, December 5, 1S5S: — 

The site of the building is on liie highest point of land on the main road lead- 
ing from New York to New Haven. The plan was prepared by Leopold Eidlitz, 
Esq., of New York, and has been much admired. The entire material is native 
granite, quarried in the near neighborhood, except the corner-stone, which was 
presented to the Society by Mr. Milne, of Stamford. The edifice is of the Gothic 
order of architecture. The main audience- room eonsi-sts of a nave, 104 feet long, 
and 86 feet wide ; transept, 72 feet wide. The nave projects in front some 26 feet 
beyond the aisles, in which projection, on a platform slightly elevated above the 
floor, is the choir. The front of the church faces the south, and commands an ex- 
tended view of Long Island Sound. On the southwest angle, entirely disengaged 
from the church, but connected with it by a low porch, is a tower with a steeple, 
about 212 feet high. On the southeast angle is a staircase turret, similarly dis- 
engaged, which is 16 feet square. The whole front is 112 feet. The extreme 
length of the building, including the chapel, is 138 feet from outside to outside. 
The interior is finished with an open roof, sustained by arched sections, which are 
supported by a series of posts and attached columns. The windows are of stained 
glass. The house was dedicated to the worship of the Triune God, December 8, 
1858. In the comer-stone of the church were deposited a brief manuscript his- 
torv of the church, and various other documents. 



52 AFTERNOON SESSION, 

to this hospitable entertainment, and after ample opportunity 
for refreshment, the audience returned to the afternoon session. 



AFTEENOON SESSION. 

This opened with an Anthem, sung by the Sunday School. 
The audience then listened to the 

ADDRESS OF WELCOME. 



BV REV. W, H. H. MURRAY. 

The pleasing duty has been laid upon me by the people 
before us, most reverend gentlemen, to welcome you to their 
presence and festivities. In doing so, I feel myself to be simply 
a mouthpiece through which these many hearts do proclaim 
their joy at seeing you, and that my words only make audible 
a feeling which has already preceded, and does most surely 
exceed them. For at the sight of you, memories are stirred 
and emotions awakened too profound for public expression. 
Let me forget that I am a stranger to you and transient here, 
and speak, for a few moments at least, as one who knew you 
in former times, and whose residence had been here from the 
beginning of his life, and was to be until its close. For by so 
feeling may I alone hope to do this people justice, and speak 
as becomes the audience and the hour. 

It is not given unto all to see the fruit of their labors ripen. 
There are those who have trodden the furrow to the grave, and 
gone into it with no golden sheaf in their hands. The sickles 
were unshaped when they died which reaped the harvest of their 
sowing. But unto others is it granted to behold the ripe fruit- 
age of their deeds, and to stand amid the gathered ripeness of 
their planting. Of the latter and more favored class are you, 
reverend sirs, to-day, and we have called you back to us, not 
merely to grace our festivities by your presence, nor yet to add 
by your words to our entertainment, but rather that you might 
behold and be made happy by the evidence of our growth and 
prosperity. For we said, each to the other. It will gladden 



ADDKESS OF WELCOME, 53 

tlieir hearts to see that their hibors were not in vain ; tliat the 
seeds they did so faithfully scatter have sprung up and borne 
the longed-for fruit to an hundredfold, and that here a people, 
strong, thrifty, united, remember them with reverence and 
gratitiide. 

We do not rejoice at your presence among us as at the pres- 
ence of friends. It is not personal friendship and private regard 
which stir our hearts to-day ; for beyond and added unto these 
is a devout thankfulness that God has spared your lives to par- 
ticipate in celebrating a prosperity of which, under Him, you 
have been the chief agents and cause. You were each, in your 
time and order, more than friends to us and ours. A strono-er 
than human tie binds us in memory to you. You were our 
teachers, and did teach us in heavenly things. Your instruc- 
tions were not of this world, and the knowledge you did impart 
was not how to amass earthly riches. You did point us to 
crowns, but not of men's make and wear. You did inspire us 
with virtue, but not for virtue's sake alone. You guided us to 
joys, but not of the flesh. You did lead us up to that " mystery " 
into which no carnal eye may look, and whatever of " godli- 
ness " we have since manifested in our lives is largely the result 
of your labors and prayers. It is well, therefore, that you are 
here. Where in the world might you so appropriately be to- 
day as here, to receive the welcome of a people who feel that 
by you and such as you was this festal day to them and their 
children made possible. 

This high praise is not beyond what facts do warrant. High 
it is indeed, but well deserved, all of it. Keflection will not 
lead one to unsay a word or take back one syllable tliat we have 
spoken. For we do not forget that physical results are but the 
efiects of preceding spiritual causes ; that ideas antedate mate- 
rial growth, as the germ does the flower; that education always 
precedes development. And when we look about us and be- 
hold what we are ; when we consider this goodly pile whose 
granite will outlive the ages ; wheu we reflect upon our pres- 
ent condition, so auspicious of wider and nobler development, 
we are impressed with the thought that our unity, our num- 
bers, our standing, and even this building in which we sit to- 
day, that all of this fair fortune which smiles upon us is but the 



54 AFTERNOON SESSION. 

consummate flower, the sweet blossoming of a seed long since 
planted and tenderly watched, and that yours, in common with 
hands invisible, to-day laid the masonry of this temple. Take 
then the garland, not which my words, but which this grateful 
people wreathe for you ; for well do you deserve it, both flower 
and leaf. Yours* it is and shall be, fadeless and green forever. 

But more especially do we rejoice that you, the more aged 
of this group, whose sun, though glowing and bright, iis near 
the border of the horizon, should once more be with us, to 
behold and be made happy at the sight of our prosperity, before 
the shadows deepen farther, and you, passing through them, be 
lost to our eyes. It is well, too, that those of us in this congre- 
gation, whose heads, in the passage of years, have whitened 
with yours, should see once more the familiar faces, the coun- 
tenances of former and still beloved pastors, before that hand, 
which smites the cloud for all, smites it asunder for us, and 
our eyes close on terrestrial objects forever. 

It is well, moreover, that we, the young of this audience, who 
were in our cradles when you were here, or even then unborn, 
should see for once the men who taught our parents how to 
teach us, and laid the foundation of that prosperity which we 
in our day and generation are to enjoy, and to which, following 
your example, we hope further to contribute. And down from 
the heavens, or out of the spaces round about us, come other 
voices to bid you greeting. Faces unknown to us, half-forgot- 
ten by you, rise up from out the past to hail your advent here. 
This room is thronged with an unseen audience. The graves 
insist on being heard. They appeal to the orator for remem- 
brance, and through me do the voices of four generations l)id 
you welcome. 

But you are not all here. Sacket, Munson, Saxton, Judson, 
Todd, Lewis, these sit not to-day in your group. They swell 
not your venerable circle. They join not, in bodily presence, 
in these festivities. They hear not, as do you, the voice of our 
greeting. In that greater congregation of the saints, in that 
Temple not made with hands, amid the just made perfect, they 
rejoice to-day. Happier than we, even as the higher are hap- 
pier than the lower. Yet if, as some suppose, knowledge of 
earthly things exists in heaven, well may we imagine that they 



ADDRESS OF KEY, W. H. MOORE. 



55 



are not indifferent to what is transpiring here. Nor were it 
difficult to conceive that on some angle of the walls built nearest 
earth, a throng of spirits have met to-day, and even now stand, 
hand clasped in hand, wing enfolding wing, contemplating with 
delight our gathering and our joy ; and if faith and labor are a 
measure of reward in heaven, one holds pre-eminence among 
them — even he who was, and in tradition ever will be, the 
Beloved Pastor. 

Such the memories awakened by your presence, gentlemen, 
and such the feeling, in connection with this celebration, which 
does pervade the hearts of this people, as they behold in their 
midst once more their former pastors. I have, rest assured, 
spoken nauglit beyond what they do feel. Words ever fail to 
do such occasions and such themes justice. How imperfectly 
mine express your welcome, let eye speaking to eye, hand clasp- 
ing hand, tell you to-day. 

Ye men of God, in His great name we, as a people, bid you 

WELCOME ! 

Eev. W. H, Moore, 

Secretary of the Connecticut Home Missionary Society, being 
introduced, then addressed the audience as follows :— 

My Friends : I want to say a word about the Mi amis people, 
that live on the other side of the river. "We wei-e told this 
morning a great many things that happened to the people who 
lived on this side the river, and how at length the people on both 
sides, as neighbors sometimes will, began to disagree — and so 
this Society was formed. It appears that the people on this side 
grew much more rapidly than those on the other side, who 
dwindled, after this division, until the record states that, at the* 
close of 1833, the members were but one man and fifteen women — ■ 
the whole membership being sixteen. During 1834, we find that 
the man was in some way counted out ; so that when they made 
up their record on the 1st of January, 1835, they had nineteen 
women and not one man ! That was their progress on the 
other side of the river. I am very glad to say that an examina- 
tion of the records of the church, from that time to this, shows 
a most encouraging growth, and to-day they have not only 83 



56 AFTEKNOON SESSION 

women, but they have 26 men — a membership of 109 — and 
they are in a fair way to continue their present prosperity. 
And this brings us to a period of marked progress in the church 
membership of this town. In 183i, the statistics show that all 
the Congregational churches in the town numbered 482 mem- 
bers ; there are now 728 — a gain within that period of 51 per 
cent., which is a very healthy condition of things. The popu- 
lation, according to the latest census, gained 66 per cent, between 
1840 and 1860; witliin the same time, the Congregational 
Church gained 51 per cent., and now constitutes 17 per cent, of 
the population. The proportion of church members to the 
population throughout the State of Connecticut is ten percent., 
the proportion in the town of Greenwich is 17 percent. Green- 
wich is a strong town for Congregationalism, and I hope will 
always remain so. In regard to the membership of this church, 
we find that the smallest number for the last thirty years was 
in 1838, when it had 216 members, and tlie largest membership 
M^as on the 1st of January this year, when it had 376, 

Dr. Linsley referred this morning to what he called the fixed- 
ness of the people : the fact, that families who came here a hun- 
dred years ago, can be found by their family names to-day. 
This matter is well illustrated by a reference to the dismissions 
and admissions by letter. Many of our churches have lost 
largely from dismissions by letter ; while the figures show that, 
taking the admissions and dismissions by letter, this church has 
lost, on the average, for thirty years, but one member in two 
years from this cause. I think very few of our country churches 
can make so favorable a report on this point as yours. 

In the matter of charities, Dr. Linsley referred to the liberality 
of this church, but did not give the figures. For the last seven 
years, in addition to the erection of, and payment for, this lai'ge 
building, the Second Congregational Church has contributed 
$13,320 in charity, making an average for each member, each 
year, of $5.41, which is filty per cent, larger than the common 
average of liberality in churches throughout the State. It is 
also a gratifying fact, that from the commencement of the war, 
in 1861, the charities of this church have been going upward, 
without any step backward. In 1861, the charities amounted 
to $1,400; the next year, $1,500 ; the next, $1,700. During that 



ADDRESS OF KEV.'W. H. MOOKE. 57 

year you paid off the last installment of $10,000 towards liqui- 
dating the cost of this church, and that heavy burden having 
been removed, yourcharitiesat once leaped from $1,700 to $2,800, 
and last year the amount was $2,850. I hope you will do your- 
selves the credit to see that the charities for 18G6 go higher 
than for 1865. Keep on the up-grade, improving from year to 
year, until you come to the full measure of your Christian ability. 

There is another thing very much in favor of this church. 
As I go about the State, talking to ministers, I have occasion 
very frequently to call attention to the neglect of infant bap- 
tism, and I always feel grateful when I can find such a good 
example as yours on that subject. During the last thirty years, 
if 3^ou divide it into two periods of fifteen years each, you find 
that in the first period the church baptized I-IS children ; and 
if you take the record of the last fifteen years, you find they 
baptized 145 children, making 290 in a pei-iod of thirty years, 
or an average of nearly ten a year. That is a very creditable 
record, because it shows that you hold on faithfully, in this 
respect, to the institutions, the faith, and usage of the cburch. 
Taking all the Congregational churches, I find the ratio of 
children baptized is 17 in a year to every 1,000 church mem- 
bers. In this church, for the last thirty years, the ratio has 
been 32 children baptized in a year to every 1,000' members. 
I trust you will continue to give us the benefit of a good exam- 
ple on this subject right along through the next 150 years. 

On the subject of revivals, Dr, Linsley called attention to the 
fact that there were no traces of any revival during the first 
century. Since 1840, how many revivals there have been in 
this church — revivals that, under God's blessing, have added 
from thirteen to ninety-three new members in a year. There 
have been, within the past half century, thirteen of these sea- 
sons of special and marked religious interest, being one in every 
four years. This is a fact full of encouragement. 

I may mention that during 150 years this church has sent 
out fifteen ministers to work in the Lord's vineyard. 1 have no 
doubt that out of the large number receiving instructions in 
your Sunday schools, the average, for the next 150 years, will 
be much larger of those consecrated to the ministry of the Gos- 
pel, and that this church will feel it a higher honor to send 

8 



58 AFTEENOON SESSION. 

young men to turn sinners to repentance than to send her sons 
to the halls of Congress. Let us, then, in looking at these facts, 
be encouraged, take fresh heart, and go forward, as a church, 
for the next fifty years, trusting in Him who has wrought such 
great things in Israel. 

An Anthem was then sunsr. 



After this, the President said that they would next hear from 
the Irrepressible Sewing Society — irrepressible for good. Dr. 
PiNNEO would read a " History of the Stillson Benevolent 
Society." The following paper was then read. 

STILLSON BENEVOLENT SOCIETY. 

BY DR. T. S. PINNEO. 

In collecting the facts connected with the history of the Still- 
son Benevolent Society, and presenting them to this audience, 
it must be borne in mind that our object is not so much to 
inform the present generation, as to put on record for future 
reference, what, thougli well known now, will become every 
year more and more likely to pass from our memories and be 
forever forgotten. It is the object of this paper to preserve 
from oblivion the history of an institution closely connected 
with the interests and affections of this church. 

And first I will speak of its 

ORIGIN AND FORMATION. 

The germ of this Society may be found in a young ladies' 
school, sustained in this place during the three or four years 
between 1820 and 1823 or 4. In 1820, Miss Elizabeth Stillson, 
from Bethlehem, of this State, came to Greenwich^ and took 
charge of the private school above referred to. She seems to 
have been highly gifted in personal attractions, amiable in dis- 
position, possessing decided intellectual strength and culture, 
and devoted Christian character. 

During the three or four years of her residence here, she evi- 



STILLSON BENEVOLENT SOCIETY. 59 

dently sncoeeded in imparting to her pnpils much of her own 
generous Christian spirit. As evidence of this, she established 
among them a Young Ladies' Charitable Society, whose efforts 
were directed to the support of missions among the Osao-e 
Indians. The following are the names of some of the youno- 
ladies who were nnembers of this Society, as given by one of 
their number. They ai-e worthy of record here, as being among 
those who subsequently founded the institution which is the 
more especial subject of this paper. 

Miss Angeline H. Ferris, Miss Harriet Husted, 

" Mary E. Mason, " Lucy M. Mead (Mrs. Titus Mead), 

" Caroline R. Mead, " Eunice B. Hobby, 

" Laura Mead (Mrs. Zaecheus Mead), " Clarissa Brusli, 

" Eliza Timpany, " Rachel Sackett (Mrs. C. Mead), 

" Sarah A. Mead (Mrs. Jos. Brush), " Amy M. Reynolds, 

" Abigail J. Reynolds (Mrs, "W. HL " Emily Husted. 
Mead), 

A few years after the death of Miss Stillson, which took place 
in 1824, these young ladies, with others, formed the society of 
which we are endeavoring to collect and preserve some record, 
naming it, in remembrance of their departed and beloved friend 
the Stillson Benevolent Society, 

In addition to the names which have already been given as 
original members of this Society, the following are also recorded 
among its founders or early friends. They are given here in 
the order in which they occur in the record, omitting, of course 
those already named as members of the School Society : 

Miss Cornelia Graham, Miss Sophia Peck, 

" Elizabeth R. Mead (Mrs, Webb), " Susan Merritt (Mrs. Edw. Mead), 

" Amy Mead, " Lydia Ann Mead, 

" Martha Mead (Mrs. Silas Husted), " Phebe Timpany, 

" Semantha R. Holley (Mrs. N, Howe), " Elmaretta Hubbard (Mrs. Aug. 

" Frances 0. Holley (Mrs. Alf. Rey- Merritt), 

nolds), " Harriet M. Peck, 

" Lucinda Mead (Mrs. Benj. Reynolds), Mrs, Catherine Mann, 
" Clarissa Brush, " Emily Clark, 

Mrs. Emehne A. Holley, Miss Electa Ricli (Mrs. Ball), 
Miss Frances Wheeler, <' Charlotte Russell, 

" Esther Mead, " Cornelia Palmer, 

" Mary E. Mead, " Clarissa Mead, 

" Zetta Mead, ^' Hannah H. Mead, 



60 AFTERNOON SESSION. 

Miss Sarah Lewis, Miss Julia Mead (Mrs. Isaac Peck), 

" Alice B. Smith, " Hannah Ingersol, 

" Jane Peck, " Emmeliae Knapp (Mrs. Sherwood). 

It is difficult to know exactly where to stop in this list. But 
enough names have been given to include the founders and 
early members, and some also of later date. 

The Society went into operation with twenty members, and 
at a meeting held at the house of Col. Thomas A. Mead, in 
August, 1829, adopted their constitution, and elected the fol- 
lowing officers : — 

Miss Elizabeth R. Mead, First Directress. 
" Cornelia J. Graham, Second Directress. 
" Abigail J. Reynolds, Secretary, 
" Mary E. Mason, Treasurer, 

Committee of Appraisers — • 

Miss Semantha R, Holley, 
'• Angeline A. Ferris, 
" Harriet Husted, 
" Amy Mead, 

Miss Laura Mead was appointed to prepare a code of by-laws. 
Having thus briefly described the origin and formation of 
this Society, let us look a moment at its 

OBJECT. 

As stated in the 1st Article of its constitution, this was " to 
raise funds for the spread of the Gospel, and to promote the 
religious and intellectual improvement of its members." 

The Society at first devoted its funds to the spread of the 
Gospel in Greece ; but August 30, 1831, it voted to apply them 
to Home Missions, and this has ever since been the object of 
its benefactions. Yery early, it aimed to provide funds for 
the support of at least one missionary. It accomplished this, as 
will be seen hereafter, though it seems, after a while, to have 
found it difficult to retain a direct intercourse, or, perhaps, the 
assignment of a specific individual for support. The members, 
therefore, contented themselves with providing the funds and 
forwarding them to the Home Missionary Society, 

Bv a reference to its early records, it will be seen, also, that 



STILLSON BENEVOLENT SOCIETY. 61 

the Society did not lose sight of the other object designated in 
its formation, viz. : " the promotion of reh'gions and intellectual 
improvement." It is recorded of their regular meetings, some- 
times, that " a portion of the works of Hannah More was read ;" 
at others, " James on Christian Charity," or " the Life of James 
Brainard Taylor." At one meeting, it is stated that '* Plain 
Dress " was the subject ; at another, " a description of a Fair 
at Salem, Massachusetts." 

As their interest in Home Missions increased, they seemed 
quite regularly to settle upon letters, reports, &c., of that Soci- 
ety. In these same early records it is noted, that their meet- 
ings always closed with singing or prayer, or both. 

We will now look for a moment at the 

METHOD OF ACTION, 

by which the Society attempted to accomplish its principal 
object. 

In its Constitution it was specified, that funds were to be 
raised by " work and annual subscriptions." The annual sub- 
scription consisted of twenty-five cents from each member. 
But, from the first, the dependence of the members seems to 
have been chiefly upon their united labor at their regular and 
extra meetings. These extra meetings are often recorded as 
being twenty to twenty-two a year, which, added to their 
monthly meetings, would make thirty-two to thirty-four in all. 
The members seem at first to have depended upon the friends 
of the cause to furnish them with work of various kinds, for 
which they received a fair remuneration. It soon became evi- 
dent, however, that their aspirations far outstripped this slow 
process. Accordingly, we find that in 1833, on the 31st day of 
July, a private sale was held at the house of Mr. Alvan Mead, 
which is thus described in the record : " The Society met July 
31st, at Alvan Mead's ; most of the members were present ; 
various kinds of articles, both useful and ornamental, were 
exhibited for sale, and a large number of spectators expressed 
their interest in the meeting by their purchases. The articles 
sold consisted of seventy pieces." 

This was the germ of the annual fairs which have constituted 
so important a feature in the operations of this Society. It is, 



62 AFTERNOON SKS8TON. 

as yon are aware, by this latter method, that the ladies have 
raised the large annual income which they have regularly 
devoted to the support of missionaries at the West. These 
gatherings, held for some years past in our public hall, have 
been so wisely managed, that they have been entirely free from 
the objections often justly urged against public fairs. From 
the commencement, three cardinal principles have been ob- 
served, viz. : — 

1. Articles are sold at a fair remunerative price, thus reliev- 
ing the very common and often just apprehension of being im- 
posed upon by extortionate valuations. 

2. Ko raffling or lottery of any description has ever been 
permitted. 

3. No late hours have been encouraged or even allowed. If 
I am not mistaken, until within a few years, the doors have 
been closed at dark, and if this custom is still not literally 
observed, its spirit is retained. 

The benefit of this prudent management, originating periiaps 
in the wisdom and caution of Miss Sarah Lewis, but fully 
approved and sustained by all the members, has been realized in 
the public confidence which this institution has always com- 
manded. 

These annual fairs, where for sotne time were exposed for 
sale only articles prepared by the ladies, or those donated by 
friends, have in later days come to rival a Turkish bazaar in 
the variety and elegance of their display. The following list 
of articles, as found in the early records of the Society, may 
recall some almost forgotten relics, and become hereafter a 
matter of interesting reference. Beginning with the articles 
recorded as made at the first meeting, we have as follows : — 

"Watch-chains, shirts, shirtees, hoods, false collars, hats, 
dresses, Navarinos, calashes, surtout coat (faced), pocket-hand- 
kerchiefs (hemmed), vests, roundabouts, gloves, class-papers, 
safety-chains, toilet-boxes, toilet-cushions, quilts, socks, stock- 
ings, purses, false bosoms, work-boxes, lace, dickeys, pantaloons, 
comfortables, card-baskets, sheets, ruffles, mittens, book-marks, 
emeries, watch-papers, tidies, fire-screens, travelers' bags, lamp- 



STILLJ50N BENETOLENT SOUIETV. 63 

mats, sacques, bead-bags, infant caps, polish-boots, and otto- 



,c " 



mans. 

As most present are fully aware, quilts have formed a most 
important article of each year's production, often occupying 
several successive meetings for completion, and not unfre- 
quently commanding twenty, twenty-five, or thirty dollars 
each. 

We must not forget here to state, that for some time there 
was a Juvenile Society, composed of children under twelve, 
which formed a kind of auxiliary. This, I believe, was always 
presided over and instructed by Miss Sarah Lewis herself. It 
seems to have expired when those who formed it became old 
enough to nnite with the Parent Society. If I mistake not, 
something of this kind has been of late revived. 

There was also at Clapboard Ridge and Peck's Land a 
branch, sometimes called the Northern Branch, where separate 
meetings merely were held for work, but whose products were 
a part of the common stock. 

The question now may fairly arise, what 

RESULTS 

have been secured by all these efi'orts, continued through nearly 
forty years of patient and productive labor ? 

It is stated by one of the founders of this Society, still livino- 
among us, that the first year they raised thirty dollars ; the 
second, sixty. We find in 1832, the third year of its existence, 
the following record of the annual August meeting : " The So- 
ciety voted to appropriate their funds to the objects of the 
Home Missionary Society; also, voted to make an efi'ort to 
raise the sum of one hundred dollars the ensuing year." This 
was accomplished, as already stated, by their first sale, held at 
Mr. Alvan Mead's, on the 31st of July following. From that 
time the amount gradually increased, until in August, 1835, we 
find two hundred and fifty dollars appropriated to the support 
of a missionary. The subsequent record is so complete that 
we are able to give the following statement of payments to the 
Home Missionary Society, down to the last annual raeetino- in 
August, 1866. The amounts for 1833, 1831, and 1816 are 
est'hnated. 



64: 



AFfERNOON SESSION. 



Aug. 


, 1830, 


$30 




1831, 


60 




1832, 


100 




1833, 


150 




1831, 


200 




1835, 


250 




1836, 


280 




1837, 


250 




1838, 


250 




1839, 


305 




1810, 


400 




1841, 


430 



Aug., 



1842, 
1843, 
1844, 
1845, 
1846, 
1847, 
1846, 
1849, 
1850, 
1851, 
1852, 
1853, 



Aug., 



$350 

350 " 

350 " 

350 " 
360 est. " 

380 " 

400 " 

400' " 

350 " 
360 

430 *' 

380 " 



1854 
1855 
1856 

1857 
1858 
1859 
1860 
1861 
1862 
1863 
1864 
1865 
1866 



$380 
300 
500 
450 
360 
320 
270 
320 
270 
240 
350 
550 
600 



From this table it appears that 
from 1830 to 1840 the average amount is about $250" 
1840 to 1850 " " 325 

1850 to 1860 " nearly 400, 

and that for the two last years the Society has furnished for 
western missions, in 1865, $550, and in 1866, $600. These 
figures give $11,775 as the result of the Society's efforts. Besides 
this, there is generally retained in the treasury, from year to 
year, an average of $335 for future supplies of materials, and 
for contingencies. Fifty-five life members of the Parent Society 
have been made with a portion of these funds. 

If we follow the application of these funds more particularly, 
we find, as already stated, that early in the history of the 
Society their desire to support some individual missionary, and 
to establish a correspondence with him, was gratified. 

The first thus mentioned is Kev. Mr. Watson, whose place 
of labor is not specified. 

The second is Rev, Mr. Bascom, who seems to have corre- 
sponded with the Society for about three years (from 1835 to 
1838). He is referred to as preaching at four different places, 
one of which is Pleasant Grove. It is also recorded that he 
preached at Peoria, the county seat of Peoria County, in Illinois, 
and that he had founded a church there, which was already 
greatly prospering. If we compare the present size and impor- 
tance of this place with its condition at that time, we may be 
sure that some good seed was there sown by the labors of this 
Society. 



STILLSON BENEVOLENT SOCIETY. 66 

In 1840, Rev. Mr. Peet is spoken of as laboring at Green 
Bay, in "Wisconsin. In the report for that year of the secretary, 
Miss Angelina A. Ferris, we find the following: "We must 
look now to Green Bay for the fruits of our labor. If we 
extend our thoughts to that spot, and trace its probable history, 
how are we cheered by the prospect ! Shall we not find that 
through our instrumentality the word of God has been made 
the means of salvation to many, and of much glory to the 
Divine Master ? Will not the people in all future time hg,ve 
occasion to bless the Stillson Benevolent Society ?" If we look 
at that region at this moment, truly shall we see the verifica- 
tion of that prophecy ! And so will all labor performed in like 
faith be productive of similar results. 

In 1844, Eev. Mr. Portee was their missionary at Green 
Bay. 

From 1852 to 1856, Rev.- John Allen acted for the Society, 
and corresponded with them, laboring at Margaretta, Wisconsin. 

In 1857, Eev. Stephen D. Peet labored at Genesee, Wis- 
consin, occupying the same relation to this Society that his 
father had held before him. 

From that time onward I find no mention of individual mis- 
sionaries. Tlie Society seems to have been content to leave 
the further direction of its funds to the discretion of the Parent 
Institution. 

Another less tangible, but still appreciable and irajwrtant 
result of the labors of this Society, may be found in the difi'usion 
of a spirit of Christian benevolence. It is a well-known fact, 
as already stated this morning, that this church has, for many 
years, stood high on the list of contributors to the various 
benevolent calls of the day. In the especial object for which 
this Society has labored, it has been surpassed by none ; and 
may it not be supposed that the spirit of liberality here enkin- 
dled has imparted life and activity to other benevolent labors ! 

OFFICERS. 

The following is a list of the officers of this Society. A star 
marks those who are dead : — 
9 



66 AFTERNOON SESSION. 

PRESIDENTS. 

(For some years this officer was termed First Directress) 

1829 to 1832, Miss Elizabeth E. Mead (Mrs. Webb). 
1832 to 1834, Mrs. Semantha Howe. 
1834 to 1845, *Miss Harriet Husted. 

1845 to 1860, *Mrs. Wm. H. Mead. 
1860 to 1862, *Mrs. Isaac Holley. 

1863 to 1864, Mrs. Joseph Brush. 

1864 to 1866, Miss Clarissa Mead. 
1866, Mrs. P. Button. 

VICE-PRESIDENTS. 

(This officer was at first termed Second Direch-e.ss.) 

1829 to 1831, Miss Cornelia J. Graham. 
1831 to 1834, *Miss Harriet Husted. 
1834 to 1846, *Miss Sophia Peck, 

1846 to 1862, Miss Clarissa Mead. 

1863 to 1864, Mrs. P. Button. 

1864 to 1866, Mrs. D. M. Mead. 
1866, Mrs. Benj. Wright. 

SECRETARIES. 

1829 to 1831, *Miss A. J. Reynolds (Mrs. Wm. H. Mead). 
1831 to 1836, Miss Laura Mead (Mrs. Zaccheus Mead). 
1836 to 1846, *Miss Angeline A. Ferris. 
1846 to 1847, Miss Elizabeth Stillson Mead. 
184T to 1848, Miss Anna M. Peck. 

1848 to 1849, Miss Mary W. Bonney. 

1849 to 1859, *Miss Mary H. Linsley. 

1860 to 1861, Mrs. D. U. Mead. 

1861 to 1863, Mrs. Lewis Howe. 

1863 to 1864, Mrs. D. M. Mead. 

1864 to 1866, Mrs. Joseph E. Brush. 
1866, Miss Julia E. Brush. 

Treasurers. 
1829 to 1834, *Miss Mary E. Mason. 
1834 to 1859, *Miss Sarah Lcmms. 
1859, Mrs. Edward Mead. 



STILLSON BENEVOLENT SOCIETY. 67 

Among the names above mentioned stands one which chiims 
more than a passing notice, that of Miss Sarah Lewis, who for 
a quarter of a century held the responsible ofhce of Treasurer. 
It is a remarkable evidence of the great influence which she 
exerted in the management of this institution, as well as of the 
generous spirit of its members, that they all, with one voice, so 
uniformly attribute to her its prolonged and constantly increas- 
ing prosperity. When she died, in ISlI, there was a general 
fear, I may almost say, an expectation, that the Society would 
soon become extinct. That this has not been the case, but 
that, on the contrary, it has continued to expand and enlarge 
its sphere, must be attributed to the permanence of the interest 
she aided in exciting, as well as to the presence of a sister spirit 
in the hearts of its remaining friends. Her wisdom, her conse- 
cration, her zeal, and her successful labors, will long be remem- 
bered in this community. 

Such, in brief, is the history of the Stillson Benevolent Soci- 
ety, as gathered from its records. Its members are doubtless 
acquainted with many interesting incidents and modifying 
influences which would reveal something of its secret history. 
Like all other enterprises, it has an unwritten history, which 
none but the Searcher of all hearts can read. The anxious 
thoughts, the earnest consultations, the hours of prayer, the 
word of advice, or encouragement, or caution, at the right 
mojnent, and all the social influences that have been brought to 
bear upon this object, He alone can know who knows all 
things. But not the less is it true, that no labor for the Lord, 
whether noted or not by the eye of man, can ever be bestowed 
in vain. 



APPENDIX 

TO HISTORY OF STILLSON BENEVOLENT SOCIETY. 

CONSTITUTION OF THE STILLSON BENEVOLENT SOCIETY, ADOPTED AUGUST, 1829. 

The subscribers, regarding the present loud appeal to Christian benevolence as 
addressed with increasing force to every pious and enlightened mind, feel it their 
duty and their privilege to engage actively in the cause, and for that purpose have 
determined to form a society, and adopt the following Constitution : — 

Art. 1, This Society shall be called, The Stillson Benevolent Society, of Green- 
wich. The object of this Society shall be to raise funds, by work and annual sub- 
scriptions, for the spread of the Gospel, and to promote the religious and intellec- 
tual improvement of its members. 

Art, 2. Any person contributing annually to the funds of the Society a sum not 
less than twenty-fiye cents, shall be considered a member. 

Art. 3, The oflBcers of this Society, consisting of a First and Second Directress, 
Secretary, Treasurer, and a Committee of four persons, shall be elected annually, 
and shall constitute a Board of Managers, 

Art. 4. The First Directress shall preside at the meetings, and take charge of 
the work. The Second Directress shall perform the duties of the First, in case of 
her absence. 

Art. 5. The Secretary shall record the minutes of each meeting, and present an 
annual report. 

Art. 6. The Treasurer shall take charge of the funds, expend such sums as shall 
be deemed necessary by the Board, keep an account of the receipts and expendi- 
tures, and present an annual report of the same. 

Art, 7. The Committee shall obtain work, and, in concurrence with the other 
members of the Board, shall prize and dispose of such articles as are made by the 
Society. 

.Vrt. S. At each njeeting, a part of the time shall be spent in reading moral and 
religio\is publications, if deemed expedient by the officers present. 

Art. 9. The funds of the Society shall be appropriated to such objects and at 
such periods as shall be approved by two-thirds of the members present at any 
regular meeting. 

Art 10. This Society shall meet on the last Wednesday of each month, at 2 
p. M., at the residence of one of the members, or elsewhere, if invited, as shall be 
deemed expedient by tlie Board. 



SKETCH OF THE SABBATH SCHOOL. 69 

Art. 11. Extra meetings may be called at the discretion of the Board. 
Art. 12. Each meeting shall be closed by prayer or by singing. 
Art. 13. The Constitution may be altered by a vote of the majority of members 
present at any annual meeting. 



The Secretary, in her first annual report, states that twenty names were recorded 
as members at the formation of the Society (August, 1829), and that the number 
had then (August, 1830) increased to 33. 

The following are the thirty-three names that stand first on the list of subscri- 
bers : — 

Cornelia G. Graham, Eunice R. Hobby, 

Angelina A. Ferris, Clarissa Brush, 

Mary E. Mason, Mrs. Emm^line A. Holley, 

Elizabeth R. Mead, Frances "Wheeler, 

Caroline R. Mead, Esther Mead, 

Laura Mead, Mary E. Moid, 

Eliza Timpany, Zetta Mead, Jr., 

Amy Mead, Sarah Lewis, 

Martha Mead, Alice B. Sackett, 

Mrs. Sarah A. Brush, Jane Peck, 

Abigail J. Reynolds, Sophia Peck, 

Harriet Husted, Emily Husted, 

Samantha R. Holley, Rachel Sackett, 

Frances 0. Holley, Louisa Mead, 

Lucy M. Mead, Ehzabeth Mead, 

Lucinda Mead, Zetta Mead, ' 
Susan Merrett. 



An Anthem was then sung by the Sabbath School, after 
which the following paper was read : — 

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE SABBATH SCHOOL, 

BT P. BUTTON, ESQ., TWENTY-FIVE TEAKS ITS SUPERINTENDENT. 

"When the duty of preparing a historic sketch of the Sunday 
School belonging to this congregation was assigned me, I very 
cheerfully assented to the proposal. A long connection with 
the school, as Superintendent, a growing love of the Sunday 
School work, and a belief that the record of our past history 
would prompt to increased effort in the future, all combined 
to interest me in the matter, and to make me anticipate an easy 
and pleasant task. The hope also of being able to add somethino- 



70 AFTERNOON SESSION. 

to the pleasure and profit of this occasion, was an inducement 
equally strong. 

But these pleasing anticipations have not been fully realized ; 
not from any lack of intrinsic merit in the subject, but from 
the want of the records and materials essential to its proper 
elucidation. It is hoped, however, that some things have been 
gathered and embodied in this paper which are well worthy of 
remembrance, and which will stimulate the lovers of the Sun- 
day School to renewed diligence in their work. 

The earliest authentic record of the Sunday School of this 
church now accessible, bears date September 20, 1820. The 
number of scholars in the school on that day was 106. The 
record also states that a Temperance Society was then formed, 
and that a large number of the teachers and scholars became 
members. , For the history of the school prior to this date, we 
are entirely dependent upon the memory of living witnesses. 
From these, and from the more recent records, we gather the 
following particulars. 

In the summer and fall of 1816, Peter Lockwood, a student 
in theology, spent his vacation in Greenwich, and assisted the 
Rev. Isaac Lewis, D. D., in holding extra evening meetings in 
diiferent parts of the parish. An unusual degree of religious 
interest was excited in connection with these meetings, and 
during the progress of the revival, the educational and spiritual 
interests of the children and youth began especially to be con- 
sidered. In the middle of the religious interest in the spring 
of 1817, the original Sunday School of this congregation was 
organized. There were at that time but few Sunday Schools in 
the country ; none in this section of our own State. Still, the 
idea of this mode of reaching the children with religious influ- 
ences and Bible instruction, springing from the success of the 
efforts of Robert Raikes and others, had begun to be discussed, 
and to find earnest advocates among the faithful workers for 
the good of souls. Miss Sarah Lewis, of blessed memory, and 
Miss Cornelia Graham, it is believed, first suggested the start- 
ing of a school among the children of this congregation. The 
school was organized with about twenty scholars ; all young 
children. The first teachers were Miss Sarah Lewis, who was 
also superintendent ; Miss Cornelia Graham, Miss Margaret 



SKETCH OF THE SABBATH SCHOOL. 71 

Lewis, Miss Laura Howe, and Miss Alma Mead. Two of these 
have gone to their reward, the others still live to see the results 
of their labors, and to encourage us with their presence and 
their prayers. The idea of a Sunday School did not at first 
meet with very general favor, even among the members of the 
church. It may be inferred, however, that it was approved by 
the pastor, the Eev. Dr. Lewis, from the fact that the origina- 
tor and two of the efiicient workers in the school were mem- 
bers of his own family. The writer can testify, from the recol- 
lection of frequent conversations with him during the later 
period of his life, to the warm sympathy which he then felt in 
the Sunday School cause. Among the lay members of the 
church various opinions were held. Some thought the teach- 
ing of children was secular work, and should not be done on 
the Sabbath day. Others, that there was great danger of their 
receiving improper instruction — a danger which has not alto- 
gether ceased even now. Others, that an unsanctified rivalry 
would be excited among the children, by the inducements held 
out to them for learning Scripture verses. But others, whose 
judgment may have been somewhat influenced by personal 
convenience and pecuniary interest, favored the school very 
much, on the ground that it would keep the boys out of their 
orchards during Sabbath noons, and prevent mischievous depre- 
dations, which were often too great even for their pious equa- 
nimity to bear. The school was held for the first summer after 
its organization in the house of Miss Graham ; for the one or 
two following summers, in the house now standing next east of 
the Methodist church ; and then, for two or three seasons, in 
the old school-house, on the post-road. From there it was 
removed to the galleries of the meeting-house that preceded 
our present edifice. 

The seating of the children during public worship at first 
caused no little trouble. The front pews of the meeting-house 
had been reserved originally for the aged and the deaf, but for 
some time previous had been abandoned by them, because the 
advantage to their hearing was more than overbalanced by the 
pain and danger of dislocating their necks. The minister, we 
must remember, was placed in a circidar box near the roof The 
teachers, therefore, thought these pews a convenient place to 



72 AFTERNOON SESSION. 

peat their school during the hours of worship, and accordingly 
placed them there. But some of the pious people were greatly 
exercised in mind on this account. They said the children should 
be taught the humbling doctrines of the Gospel ; but, while pro- 
fessing to teach them these, their instructors were cultivating 
in them an unholy pride, by giving them the " highest seats in 
the sanctuary." These seats were therefore abandoned after 
two or three Sabbaths, and one of the teachers sat with the 
scholars in the galleries. In about five or six years after the 
organization of the school, consent was granted that its sessions 
should be held in the meeting-house. 

We hear of no further opposition in any form after this. For 
the first ten or twelve years the school was held only during the 
summer. Since that time, about 1828, its sessions have hardly 
been interrupted for a single Sabbath. After the old church 
was remodeled, the school was held in the basement, and 
remained there until December, 1841, when, for want of room, 
it was removed to the body and galleries of the church. When 
our present house of worship was completed, it came to the lec- 
ture-room and these galleries, where our numbers have been 
increased, our hands strengthened, and the presence and bles- 
sing of God have been manifestly with us. The first library was 
obtained for the school about fifteen years after its organization. 
Since that time, frequent additions of books have been made to 
it, and, with suitable and careful officers, it has been efficiently 
managed. Still the money expended, and the number and value 
of the books, have never been so great as in many other schools 
of equal size. This has resulted, in part, from the fact, that so 
much has been done in the way of supplying the school with 
papers. The Youth^s Temperance Advocate was the first one 
distributed, eighty copies, about the year 1843. This was fol- 
lowed by the American Messetiger, YoutK's Day Spring, and 
other publications, until, for several years past, there have been 
distributed through the school, at a cost of from $40 to $60 a 
year, from 100 to 110 copies of American Messenger, Tract 
Journal, ChilcVs World, Temperance Advocate, and L^fe Boat. 
These are so distributed as to supply each family represented 
in the school with a copy every week. 

The first general children's meeting, or Sunday School con- 



SKETCH OF THE SABBATH SCHOOL. To 

cert, was held, after much deliberation and fear that such a 
meeting could not be sustained, on the evening of the second 
Sabbath in June, 1858 or '59. Since that time it has always 
been well attended, full of interest, and, in fact, a more crowded 
meeting than any other held in connection with the religious 
services of this congregation. The contributions of the school 
for benevolent purposes began in a systematic form, June 21, 
1846. The money contributed was at fii-st paid over to the 
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, subse- 
quently to the heathen school fund of that Board, and still 
later was, by vote of the school, directed to be used for the sup- 
port and education of two Chinese girls in Mrs. Bridgeman's 
school at Canton. The appropriations continued in this form 
until the year i860. The amounts contributed during this 
period were small, never exceeding $75 a year, and scarcely 
averaging $50. 

On the first Sabbath in May, 1860, a Missionary Association 
was organized in the school, and a constitution adopted. One 
of the special objects of this Association, as expressed in the pre- 
amble to the constitution, was, and has ever been, to cultivate a 
spirit of active benevolence among the members of the school. 
The money raised each year has been appropriated, by vote of 
the school, for the support of a missionary of the American 
Sunday School Union, laboring to establish Sunday Schools in 
the South and West. The missionary now in part sustained 
by this Association is the Rev, Wm, B. Paxson, son of the vete- 
ran Sunday School missionary, Stephen Paxson. The Associa- 
tion holds monthly meetings in connection with the Sunday 
School concert. At these meetings the monthly letter of the 
missionary is read, and other missionary intelligence given. 

Each class in the school has its treasurer, and a full report of 
the collections in all the classes is made at every quarterly 
meeting. There are at the present time nearly three hundred 
annual and more than one hundred life-members of the Asso- 
ciation. The amounts raised and thus appropriated annually 
by this Association have been as follows :— 

1860-1. $168 83 1863-4. $222 14 
1861-2. 188 36 1864-5. 327 61 
1862-3. 190 41 1865-6. 336 06 

10 



74 AFTERNOON SESSION. 

increasing a little less than 100 per cent, in six years. Dnrino; 
the same period, about $150 have been contributed by the 
school for other objects, such as libraries for seamen, the 
"Morning Star," and the children of the freedmen. The offi- 
cers of the Association for the first year were : Josiah H. Reed, 
President ; Charles H. Wright, Vice-President ; Wra. A. Howe, 
Treasurer ; Charles H. Wright and Miss Amelia Mead, Secre- 
taries. The Presidents since that time have been as follows : 

2d year, Clias. H. Wright, 5th year, Dr. T. S. Pinueo, 

3d " Moses Cristy, 6th " Rev. "W. H. H. Murray, 

4th " Dr. T. S. Pinneo, Ith " Lieut. Benj. Wright. 

For the sake of brevity, we omit the names of the other 
officers ; but there was among them one, Thomas R. Mead 
the 2d, Vice-President, whose memory will long be green 
among us, and the mention of whose name suggests an example 
of one who was ever ready for toil and ever true to duty. We 
had marked him for a bright career of nsefnlness in the Sunday 
School, in the Church, and in our public affairs. But the coun- 
try called upon her patriot sons to defend our national life. He 
answered the call, entered the army as second officer in com- 
pany I, of the Tenth Regiment, Connecticut Volunteers, fought 
at Roanoke, was promoted, commanded a company in the bat- 
tle of Newbern, and died while in charge of one of the forts at 
Washington, N. C. Other members of the school have served 
their country with ecpial fidelity. Some have returned to the 
places they left when the war began. Others died as true sol- 
diers in the midst of the conflict, leaving us as their legacy the 
record of their virtues and their bravery, and the priceless 
blessings that shall come from universal freedom in the land, 
and a restored national union, 

Prior to 1849, we have no means of knowing the number of 
scholars and teachers belonging to the school. At that date, 
when the original association was disbanded, and the school 
taken under the direction of the church, it had increased from 
six teachers and twenty scholars, the number at the beginning, 
in 1817, to an average attendance of twenty-four teachers, and 
about one hundred and fifty scholars. Since then it has slowly 
but surely advanced, till it now numbers forty-two teachers and 
officers and three hundred and two scholars. 



SKETCH OF THE SABBATH SCHOOL. 75 

One marked feature connected with our school, has been our 
teachers' meeting. This was started in December, 1841, was 
held for a few j^ears on the same evening with the weekly 
church prayer-meeting, in the basement of the old meeting- 
house. Subsequently it was changed to Sabbath morning, at 
a quarter before ten o'clock, and has been continued at that 
hour until the present time. So far as the writer can remember, 
this meeting has never been omitted more than three or four 
times during a period of about twenty-five years. At these 
meetings the lesson of the Sabbath is examined, and prayer 
is offered for the blessing of God on the school. Some of us 
can testify to the inestimable value of these meetings, in bring- 
ing teachers into closer sympathy in their work, and greatly 
increasing our knowledge of the Word of God. ISTone of us 
can ever forget the punctual attendance at those meetings of 
the Rev. Mark Mead, continued until he was over eighty-one 
years of age, and even up to the Sabbath but one before his 
death. His expositions of difficult passages in the lesson were 
always clear, and showed a remarkable skill in jnaking one pas- 
sage explain another, proving scripture by scripture. If it were 
proper to speak of the living, we could mention other teachers 
still in that meeting, who will long be remembered for their 
knowledge of the truth and their faithfulness to duty. 

The following list embraces the names of the different Super- 
intendents of the school since its organization, and the order of 
their appointment : Miss Sarah Lewis, Wm. Lester, Mason 
Grovenor, Wm. Bushnell, Wm. B. Sherwood, Rev. Elam Claivk, 
Rev. Joel Mann, Deacon Jonas Mead, and P. Button. The 
period of service for the first eight cannot now be ascertained. 
The present Superintendent was appointed in December, 1841, 
and has been continued in the office since that time. To no 
one of the above-named officers does this school, to-day, owe 
so large a debt of gratitnde, as to its principal originator and 
first Superintendent, Miss Sarah Lewis. From the day of its 
organization, in 1817,^ to the day of her death, ISToveniber 14, 
1860, she filled the office of principal or assistant Superintend- 
ent. Always in her place, alwaj^s judicious in her management, 
kind, affectionate, self-sacrificing and sincere in all her deport- 
ment, she won the confidence and love of the school, and by 



;'■ 



76 AFTERNOON SESSION. ' 

her teaching and example " alhired to brighter worlds, and led 
the way." 

During the last few years an important work has been done 
by the teacliers of onr school in organizing and sustaining 
branch or mission Sunday Schools in our own neighborhood. 
At the commencement of the war, four of these were in snccess- 
ful operation. The Superintendents of two of them joined the 
army, and another removed from Greenwich. This fact, 
together with some changes in the condition of the districts 
where the schools were held, has occasioned the discontinnance 
of three of them. One of them, the school at Steep Hollow, 
has always been, and still is, a flourishing school. It is held in 
a neat and commodious chapel bnilt expressly for this purpose. 
It was established as a Union School, and all denominations 
are cordially invited to co-operate in sustaining it. But, for the 
last seven years, most of the teachers have been members of 
our school, and at the present time there are but two exceptions, 
and these are members of this congregation. The whole num- 
ber of teachers and scholars in the Steep Hollow school is about 
one hundred and ten, with an average attendance of from 
seventy to eighty. Probably there are but few Sunday Schools 
in the State, so far from any center of worship, which have 
been so long and well sustained, or productive of so much good. 

It may be well before closing this imperfect sketch, to inquire to 
what extent our Sunday School has been a nursery of true piety, 
and an efficient agent of the Church in securing the salvation 
of souls. There have been added to this church, on profession 
of faith, since 1846, a period of twenty years, 238 members ; 
214, or more than nine-tenths of these, belonged to the Sunday 
School. We do not infer fi'om this that they all, or even the 
majority of them, received in the Sunday School those direct 
religious impressions which led them to the Saviour ; but we 
do infer that they acquired, b}'^ their connection with the school, 
that knowledge of the Word of God and of their duty which 
made them more easily susceptible of those impressions. Espe- 
cially do we infer this, when we know that from the large 
number in our congregation during these twenty years, not 
connected with the Sunday School, so few, so very few, have 
given their hearts to God. One other fact on this point will 



"address of kev. s. b. s. bissell. 77 

close this imperfect sketch. It is not known that any member 
of this school, old enough to give intelligent evidence of a 
Christian experience, has ever died, while connected with the 
school, without a hope in Christ. 

Do not these facts, as well as the present numbers and pros- 
perity of our school, give unmistakable evidence of the Divine 
favor ? For all, therefore, that God hath wrought in us, and by 
us, and for us, in our blessed work, let His name be praised ; 
and, fellow-workers, let our remembrance of His goodness in the 
past incite us to greater diligence in the future, and to the firm 
purpose that, with His help, we will so labor, and pray, and 
teach, that all the young of this congregation shall learn the 
way of life and walk therein. 

Rev. Mr. Mukray then said : " It was intended at this point 
to let all our brethren loose upon you, but having decided upon 
giving an opportunity this evening, we hold them back, except 
our brother, Rev. S. B. S. Bissell, who has to leave us this 
afternoon, and will therefore be heard from now." 

ADDRESS OF REV. S. B. S. BISSELL. 

I am very sorry that some one of those dear friends who are 
held in bonds from anxiety to speak was not permitted to take 
my place, for I assure you I am not in that category. If jou 
cast your eye over the programme of the meeting, you will find 
upon it two announcements in regard to which I wish to say a 
word. The latter is " Addresses by invited guests,"* I have 
learned to put a dift'erent signification upon some words in our 
language as I have grown older, and I think I shall in the future 
have a new interpretation to put upon the term " invited guest." 
In my simplicity, I supposed that when a man was invited to a 
feast of fat things, he was invited simply as a guest, and not to 
provide any part of the entertainment. Looking now at this 
announcement, " Addresses by invited guests," and considering 
ray own unhappy relationship to that class, I am reminded of a 
sign inscribed over a boarding-house in New York : '' Gentlemen 
taken in and done for." 

In one of the chapters of the Book of Chronicles of the Still- 

* See Programme, 16. 



7o AFTERNOON SESSION. 

son Benevolent Society — I cannot tell now which chapter — it 
is written that when gentlemen were invited to the festivals and 
annual feasts of that society, they " might rest assured they 
were never to be imposed upon by an extortionate valuation of 
the wares." I can readily believe that announcement in regard 
to the Stillson Benevolent Society, for I liave had the privilege 
of attending its anniversary feasts, and was very often " taken 
in," in a very pleasant sense of the term, but never " done for " 
after the manner I lind myself this afternoon. I have no doubt 
that other gentlemen have been " taken in " by the Stillson 
Benevolent Society — and I think it ought to have been men- 
tioned by the worthy brother who gave us its history (not 
" taken in " in the sense of being imposed upon, observe you, 
because it is expressly written that they never were imposed 
upon) — a great many gentlemen have been permitted to attend 
those social meetings, and in finding for themselves helpmeets 
for the journe_y of ]ife, they are willing to testily tliat although 
very kindly " taken in," they never have been " imposed upon 
by an extortionate valuation of the wares." [Laughter.] Now 
let me fall into the hands of the ladies, not into the hands of the 
gentlemen of the Second Congregational Society of Greenwich. 

The second part of your programme to which I call your 
attention is that relating to the reading of the Scriptures by a 
Doctor of Divinity.* When I came into the porch of the church 
this afternoon, I found myself in the condition of the Irishman 
wlio said he was "forced to volunteer;" for my brother came 
on these pulpit steps, after having lain in wait, and forced me to 
perform the service, and stated that I had " volunteered " to 
take this part. Now, I never did any thing of the kind — volun- 
teer to take any part, and especially a part that had been given 
previously to a Doctor of Divinity. 

Excuse me, dear friends, for saying these things in a way 
that seems somewliat lightsome in tone, perhaps, for the spirit 
of this occasion ; but surrounded as I find myself to-day, so un- 
expectedly, with all these tokens of joy and gladness that are 
looped over our heads and that smile upon us from every side, 
I can hardly realize that I am in one of the old Puritan 
churches of New England. Who that saw this strait-laced 

* See Programme, 2. 



ADDRESS OF REV. S. B. S. BTSSFLL. 7^ 

people, in their liigli-backed pews, twenty j^ears ago, would 
liave thought to find them ornamenting their church with ever- 
greens and flowers? A change, truly, must have come over 
" the spirit of your dream," dear friends ; and yet I cannot but 
think it is a very pleasant dream, and I would not wish to dis- 
turb the beautiful vision. 

Our Brother Murray treated us this afternoon to some very 
pleasant and kind words. Turning his voice to us, he was 
pleased to address us as "gentlemen." It struck me that we 
ministers are not often addressed in that way. We are fre- 
quently spoken to as " brethren ;" but to be addressed as " gen- 
tlemen " in this kindly way, I am sure, made us somewhat 
elevated in our own estimation, and leads me almost to forgive 
you for placing me in this position. I did mean to say in 
regard to the term " invited guests," that after having taken 
the place of a Doctor of Divinity in the morning, I thought I 
was clear for the rest of the day ; but when I came on the plat- 
form in the afternoon I was seized hold of by one who is very 
apt to seize hold of people. If any one comes within reach of 
Philander Button, and is not told that he must work, it shows 
that he wandered where he had no business to go. And by the 
way, friends, I do not know that I shall violate the proprieties 
of the occasion at all, but am rather obeying the precejjt of the 
Word of God, wdien I say in regard to the gentleman who 
forced me into that position, that I am going to pay him otF 
(and if he says aught against it, I appeal to the Scriptures, 
which teach us to" do good to those who liave not done good to 
us) by saying this — which I say in playfulness, but in all sin- 
cerity, and I think the universal heart of the church will bear 
me out : — that he who makes others work is always willing to go 
forth and work himself ; and if he will permit me to make the 
remark, I would say that if it were given to him to re-write the 
Fourth Commandment (provided, indeed, that he would conseut 
to give himself any rest at all), he would make it read : " Six davs 
shalt thou labor and do all thou hast to do, but be sure tliat 
every one of you does all the work possible in those six days," 
You are indebted to him in many ways, and may he long be 
spared to exercise the influence he has been permitted to e^jer- 
cise these many years. 



80 AFTEKNOON SESSION. 

I cannot forego the pleasure of saying a kindly word in re- 
gard to another venerated one, whom I am sure you remember 
with gratitude, and welcome with a peculiar emphasis this after- 
noon — who gave to us those lessons of age and wisdom that 
were spread out for us on the record read this morning. Long 
may the strength and vigor that is the envy as well as the ad- 
miration of us young men — long may that vigor be continued 
to the servant of the Lord. It has been my privilege to sit at 
his feet and under his ministry, and I know that I but speak 
the sentiment of those who have shared in that privilege, when 
I say that this church was highly favored in having such a 
watchman on its tower. 

I do not know why it was given me specially to be forced 
into this service this afternoon, except for two considerations. 
"Wlience do you, dear friends, as a Society and Church, derive 
your origin under God? From whence did you spring? Oh ! I 
pray you not to look down loftily from your hill of Zion on the 
homestead on the other side of the Mianus Kiver. Possibly it 
was because I had the privilege of serving that Church of God 
for thirteen years, that I am placed here this afternoon, as hav- 
ing in that way a distant relationship to your own Society, 
although not born among you, nor even an adopted son. Remem- 
ber, I pray you— I will not say the " hole of the pit from which 
you were digged," although that figure might be suggested to 
one who had been compelled, as I have been, to ride through 
its streets and alleys in the spring of the year — but, friends, I 
beg you will not forget your origin, or that the ancestors of 
those who founded this church, first planted their feet on the 
other side of Coscob Bridge ; and because you have got up in 
the world, do not look down upon your poor relations. There 
will be always difficulty in maintaining a Church of Christ 
in that locality. It is an invariable law in societies, as in 
nature, that the strong draw away from the weak; and that 
little church on the other bank of the Mianus must always 
remain feeble. They are not like those feeble folk spoken of 
in Scripture that ''dwell in holes in the rock ;" they dwell on a 
champaign, a little level, and until there is some revolution in 
nature, they cannot rise tar above that level. The Lord has 
enabled them to maintain that level ; precious seed has been 



ADDRESS OF REV. S. B. S. BISSELL. 81 

sown that has brought forth fruit to the glory of Christ. There 
is Stamford, rich and prosperous, on one side, and this strong 
society of the Second Congregational Church on the other, 
oifering inducements for absorption. There is a great tempta- 
tion to run away from a little church, that must be always 
struggling, where there must be always self-defiial on the part 
of members to sustain it — a self-denial that you scarcely know 
the meaning of, in regard to supporting their minister ; and 
without a lively interest in maintaining the work that has been 
commenced, the people will join themselves to neighboring 
societies, where they can get entertainment, and all the privi- 
leges of church membership at a cheaper rate. Give, therefore, 
your active co-operation to the mother churcli which bore you. 
Do not let her become decrepit and infirm because of the disa- 
bilities of her position. There are precious children of God in 
that community, and have been from the time when an old 
mother in Israel, with but few to sympathize with her, used to 
start from home on Sabbath mornings, — having a pile of split 
wood and her dinner in the back of the wagon, and a little boy 
to help her,— go over to the old meeting-house, where the bats 
darkened the roof, and with her own hands sweep out the 
church and make a fire, to prepare for the minister of Christ. 
From that time to this, never has there been a failure of some 
such spirit. 

By way of parenthesis, I ought to throw in an explanation 
in regard to that piece of interesting history which Brother 
Moore, our State Missionary, gave us. He said that at one 
time in the history of the church, there were fifteen women 
and one man — even passing beyond the Scripture average, 
where only seven women laid hold of the skirts of one man. 
Here fifteen women laid hold of the skirts of one man, and he, 
doubtless, having more sins than would afi'ord of having his 
skirts holden up. It is said that the man suddenly disap- 
peared, dropped out. One would have supposed that these 
fifteen sisters would have taken care that that man did not dis- 
appear from their number. [Laughter.] He was certainly a 
valuable member of such a community. But he did disappear. 
Do you know how it was? I do not know that there is any 
record on the subject, but tradition says the trouble was that 
11 



82 AFTERNOON SESSION. 

these fifteen sisters found him not to be a " help-meet" for them, 
and they thought they ought to discipline him for irregnlarity. 
Then came up the solemn question, Whether fifteen women could 
discipline one man. [Laughter.] Well,- while that subject was 
in agitation, the man became agitated, and seeing the dark 
cloud that was rising, he volunteered tlie offer, that if the fif- 
teen sisters would let him alone, he would let them alone ; that 
is to say, he would disappear, he would drop out ; and drop 
out he did. [Laughter.] I believe there was no discipline in 
the case — there is no record of any — -except the wholesome 
discipline of fear, that worse things might befall if he did not 
flee. 

I know there is one fact, dear friends, that may tend to cut 
off your sympathy somewhat from that church. I think Dr. 
Linsley mentioned that it was a striking peculiarity in the his- 
tory of this Society, that none of the original names have disap- 
peared from Greenwich. Yow have all settled down in the old 
homesteads, and your dwellings are among the hills. Now to 
show you what I mean, when I say that there is a very serious 
dividing line between you and your sister church, I have to 
state, that there is not a single Mead on the other side of the 
Mianus River! and if that is not a wonderful fact in the history 
of this community, I do not know of any in the town of Green- 
wich. When I first went there I was exceedingly puzzled by 
tlie introductions I received. It was "Mr. Ferris," "Mr. Lock- 
wood," " Mr. Lockwood," " Mr. Ferris." Between Ferrises and 
L(;ckwoods, I was greatly embarrassed to know which was 
which ; so I made it a point to salute' the first I spoke to as 
" Mr. Ferris," tlie next as " Mr. Lockwood," and so alternately ; 
and when I came to make a church record, I found there were 
nineteen families of Lockwoods, and nineteen families of Fer- 
rises, besides eight families of Pecks; and I fastened that in 
my mind by saying " four pecks make a bushel;" so that I had 
nineteen Lockwoods, nineteen Ferrises, and two bushels in my 
flock. But while there were Ferrises, and Lockwoods, and 
Pecks, there was no Mead. I know that the most of you are 
Meads, but I hope that for that reason you will not look down 
on the plains on the other side. 

In regard to that point, I have only to urge, seriously and 



ADDRESS OF REV. S. B. S. BI8SELL. 83 

solemnly, dear Christian friends, do not let the Mianus River 
divide your mother from you. Do not let that stream cut off 
from them your sympathies, your prayers, and kind co-opera- 
tion. 

The other thing I meant to say, was in regard to the Sabbath 
School. I do not know whether I ought to attempt to do it, lest 
I should make a " moving " speech ; but I will be brief. My 
dear young friends who sit yonder, in the rear of your fathers 
and mothers, let me say a word to you before I close ; and let 
that word be here [pointing to the legend above the chancel], 
in this beautiful green. Let these words be ever green in the 
memory of you all, dear friends. " In place of the fathers are 
the children." Very soon will that be true in reference to you 
who are now fathers ajid mothers. In your place will be the 
children. Tliey will occupy these homes ; they will till these 
farms; they will sit in these seats, and will Sustain these inter- 
ests of Zion. Therefore let your warmest sympathies, your 
most earnest prayers, and most constant endeavors be given to 
your Sunday School, to push it forward to a higher standard 
of attainment even than that which it has yet reached. 

Dear young friends, remember, I pray you, what has been 
said in the report made to you this afternoon by your Superin- 
tendent. Oh! what an attestation to the covenant-keeping 
faithfulness of our God was that in the wonderful fact, that not 
one of the pupils of this Sabbath School, so far as known, who 
has reached an age at which he or she was able to give an 
intelligent evidence of receiving the Lord Jesus Christ, had died 
without giving that evidence ! Oh ! which of you boys, which 
of you girls, will break the charm of that blessed truth ? Shall 
it be said of any one of you, dear young friends, that this boy, 
or this girl, in dying, was the first boy or the first girl from the 
Sunday School of the Second Congregational Church in Green- 
wich that died without hope? And that you may not die with- 
out hope, do not live without hope ; and that you may not live 
without hope now, give your hearts to Christ, that you may 
have hope. 

In place of the fathers, soon shall be the children ; and you, 
dear young friends, must come forward to take up these respon- 
sibilities, to discharge these duties, to receive this precious trust 



S4r EVICNING SESSION. 

which has been lianded down for live generations from father to 
child, from father to child, from father to child, from father to 
child, from father to child — five times over. Very soon it will 
be your place to receive this sacred trust. God grant you may 
prove worthy, and when future generations come up to this 
Hill of Zion, they may look out and see that its beauty has not 
been diminished, its glory has not been tarnished, its strength 
has not been weakened, but it stands as firm, shines as bright, 
and is as fruitful in good works as ever it was in the history 
God has given it. 

The services of the afternoon closed with 
An Anthem by the Sabbath School, and 
The Doxology, in which the congregation joined. 

The guests and all of the congregation who remained were 
again taken in charge by the ladies, and provided with an 
excellent and abundant repast. An hour was passed in plea- 
sant social intercourse, in the revival of old friendships, and 
in interesting reminiscences. 



EVENING SESSION. 

The evening meeting commenced at seven o'clock, and was 
opened with prayer by the Rev. Dr. Clark. After this the 
audience listened to the followino' 

ADDRESS BY REV. PLATT T. HQLLEY. 

When I return home I shall have traveled nearly two hun- 
dred miles to attend to your anniversary. This alone shows 
the interest I feel in it ; and I feel a deep interest, not simply 
because this is the place of my childhood, not simply because 
this is the church with which I connected myself in early life, 
but because I am a lineal descendant of one of its earliest 
pastors. I am therefore '■' to the maimer born "^^not to the 
" manor," as some erroneously quote Shakspeare. My own 
memory extends back fifty years or more — one-third part of 
the entire period commemorated here to-day — and there are 
many facts of interest within my recollection that I would like 



A: 
ADDRESS BY RKV. PLATT T. HOLLEY. 85 

to call attention to, were not mj time limited, and that there 
are others to follow. 

The commemoration of the one hundred and fiftieth anniver- 
sary of this church, with which so many of us have been and 
are still connected, is an interesting event — interesting not only 
because it recalls scenes long since passed, but as remindino- us 
of this : You, who are now forming a connecting link between 
the past and the future, and are therefore to determine what 
the character and history of this church shall hereafter be, as 
you have to some extent formed its past character and history, 
are to see that it is handed over to others a pure, enlightened, 
Christ-like church ; and you are to do this by yourselves, pos- 
sessing these characteristics, and handing them over, through 
your influence, to those that shall come after you. In this way 
every generation of Christians models the character of its suc- 
cessors, and, through them, the character of the generation that 
shall next follow, and so on almost indefinitely. The influence 
of those who formed this church is doubtless felt to the present 
time, and will be many years hence ; for spiritual seed, once 
sown, becomes perennial, I had almost said eternal, and the 
seed we sow will grow up many years hence. Let us see that 
it is the good seed of the Gospel, of true, enlightened Christian 
character, that the harvest may hereafter not only be abundant, 
but rich to everlasting life. 

I shall not allude to the incidents with which my own mem- 
ory is stored, some of which are interesting to me and might 
prove so to you. One good thing you have done in erecting 
this noble edifice, which is so beautifully adorned this evenino-, 
and which I hope will stand many years, a monument of your 
enterprise and labor. But you need something more. You 
need to turn your attention toward your cemeteries, or places 
of the dead. The one lying near by is not what it should be, 
with its dilapidated walls ; nor is the one lying yonder. You 
need to enlarge and beautifj' these ; or, what would perhaps be 
still better, you need to select some spot sufiiciently large and 
convenient, if possible, that shall be the burial-place of this 
community, where those who are not already supplied, or those 
whose lots shall hereafter be filled, may find for themselves and 
their families a suitable resting-place, and it may be for the 



Ob EVENING SESSION. 

stranger tliat is with them. Such a cemetery I think you will 
eventually need, and he who shall i^rocure, and arrange, and 
beautify such a cemetery will secure honor for himself and be a 
benefactor to this community. We cannot, my friends, do too 
much to render interesting and inviting the places where sleeps 
the dust of those we love and who have loved us, and where, it 
may be, our own remains will soon be deposited. Those for 
whom we feel this interest may not, indeed, be conscious of 
what we are doing for them. The sleepers beneath those graves 
may not know that we are planting flowers over their remains, 
or evergreens around their monuments. They may not know 
it, but we shall know it, and it will refine and ennoble our own 
nature. It will keep warm in our hearts the memory of de- 
parted ones. It will link in interest the living with the dead. 
You have provided this beautiful house of worship for your- 
selves, Kow procure a suitable cemetery, or cemeteries, where, 
until the archangel's call, may rest the bodies of those who 
have worshiped here and elsewhere for many generations, and 
whence, having long slept together in dust, they may together 
rise, to worship God forever in His magnificent and eternal 
temple above. 

I am happy to meet and greet here to-day so many of my 
friends and acquaintances from other churches, and I hope and 
trust we shall all bear from this place remembrances that will 
be pleasant and useful to us during the remainder of our lives. 

The Rev. Mr. Murray then made the following remarks : — 

My Friends : I deem it not the least profitable part of this 
occasion that it will ^neld suggestions which you, as a people, 
should receive — such as have this afternoon been made by 
Rev. Mr. Bissell, pleasantly put, but none the less worthy to 
be listened to, and now again from the brother who has just 
addressed you. His thoughts have been mine. As I am going 
to leave you, the reflection has arisen, how unworthy of you are 
your cemeteries. My own native town has been at large expense 
in this matter, and I am sure you but need the suggestion to 
have it fittingly attended to. 

It is with no invidious comparison that I single out Rev. Joel 
Mann as the man whom you will listen to to-night with deep 



ADDRESS OF EEV, JOEL MANN. 87 

interest; but upon his shoulders rests the weight of many years, 
and you should be careful to attend to the old man, if you would 
have the full profit of his discourse. 

ADDRESS OF EEV. JOEL MANN. 

I am very much obliged to my brother on the right for his 
kind and complimentary introduction of myself to this audience. 
The organization of a church after the apostolic model of sim- 
plicity and self-control is, in fact, a memorable event, connected 
as it is with the spiritual welfare of following generations of 
those who may participate in its privileges and blessings. It is 
a beacon-light, set up to guide voyagers on the treacherous 
ocean of life ;■ a light to warn them of danger, and to guide them 
in the way of safety and peace. It is a fountain set open for 
the refreshment of the weary and the strenffthenino- of the faint. 
It is God's nwde for the education of his reasonable, accountable, 
immortal creatures ; a school in which his own lessons of heavenly 
wisdom are taught and learned ; the most important instrumen- 
talities to be employed in our world for fitting us for the things 
of heaven. There is, then, a manifest propriety, my dear friends, 
in commemorating with thankfulness an event which so involves 
the present and eternal welfare of our fellow-men. 

One hundred and fifty years ago was, indeed, the beginning 
of small things here ; but the progress which has been made, 
under a wise and guiding Providence, shows that we' should 
never despise tlie day of small things. The weak have become 
strong; the little fiock, indeed, a great multitude; and we have 
come together, to-day, to look over the past, to impress upon 
our memories afresh the interpositions, the merciful acts, and 
the abounding grace of God to this people. 

A hundred and fifty years ago, ministers of the Gospel imita- 
ted the great Apostle, in laboring with their own hands for their 
maintenance, as we have been shown to-day. "We were told of 
the Kev. Mr. Morgan, the first pastor of this church, being 
allowed, by the people of his Society, as a special favor, I believe, 
to run a tide-mill, in part to obtain a livelihood. They thought, 
undoubtedly, the good man would have time enough to labor 
while the tide was coming in. But they soon found that his 
grinding of their corn and wheat did not enable liim to ifv'md 



88 EVENING SESSION. 

spiritual food for the people. Tiie ecclesiastical hopper was not 
full, and there was danger of spiritual starvation ; whereupon a 
committee was appointed to wait upon him, and to request him 
to employ a man to run the mill in his place, and if he refused 
to vacate the mill, then he must vacate the pulpit. It reminds 
me of the case of a minister of the Gospel, under the necessity 
of laboring with his own hands for his maintenance, who said : 
" My people cheat me and I cheat them." It might be a ques- 
tion of casuistry, which of the two parties was most to blame ; 
but I think both were losers, and I think, too, the people were 
the greater losers. 

One hundred and fifty years ago was not a time of revivals 
here, as we have been told in the admirable address of this morn- 
ing. For about seventy-live years the successive pastors of this 
church labored on very faithfully, I have no doubt, but with 
very little success. The showers of divine grace did not descend 
upon these hills of Zion. Yet there were plants of righteousness 
that grew and prospered by the unchanging love and abounding 
grace of God. How great has been the change within the last 
fifty years ! How frequent and abundant have been the showers 
of divine grace ! Truly, brethren, " this is the garden of the 
Lord," which, under His kind and gracious culture, has flour- 
ished greatly, and brought forth abundantly the fruits of holi- 
ness. The long pastorate of Rev. Dr. Lewis did very much for 
accomplishing the unity, the spirituality, and the prosperity of 
this Church and Society. He and his labors deserve to be held 
in long and grateful remembrance. He was a man, as you 
know, of great practical wisdom, of dignity, and urbanity of 
manner : a very able and faithful preacher. He loved God's 
truth, and he declared that truth with great fidelity. I shall 
ever cherish in my heart a reverence and affection for that 
excellent man of God, whose life was spared through all my 
ministry here. His son, who was his successor, and my prede- 
cessor, was greatly blessed in his ministry. Under his pastor- 
ate, there were very interesting and profitable revivals of reli- 
gion. We changed pulpits and localities. I came here from a 
former charge in Bristol, R. L, and Mr. Lewis went from this 
place to Bristol. Which of us made the better bargain, I will 
not say. 



ADDRESS OF EEV. JOEL MxVNN. 



89 



My memory runs not back so far as aliundred and fifty years ; 
yet I recollect well, when 1 came here, thirty-six years ag-o, 
this village did not present a very attractive appearance. There 
were but few houses, and those old, with time-worn coverings, 
the roofs running down in the rear almost to the ground — having 
escaped the ravages of the British, in the revolutionary war, 
and the depredations of tory cow-boys (which I suppose meant 
" cow-stealers"). The streets were lined with dilapidated, 
staggering stone walls, and were very rough. No such thing 
as grading was known here at that time ; and here was plenty 
of primitive rock. I confess, that to me the external appear- 
ance of things was rather forbidding, so entirely diflerent from 
all that I had been used to. But God has made here a landscape 
which the beholder may look upon with unfailing delight; and 
so, when the Rev. Dr. Sjirague came here to preach my instal 
lation sermon, he looked around and said : " Why, Brother 
Mann, how is it that you contrive to get into the pleasantest 
places in the world V I soon found that these nnsightly, anti- 
quated liouses contained an intelligent, industrious, conscien- 
tious, God-honoring people, and I soon became very much 
attached to them.. Truly, all is not gold that shines.- 

I am very much inclined to find a little fault with the com- 
memorative discourseof your pastor, because it does not give me 
credit for the full length of my ministry here, in this important 
congregation. I wish to have the honor transmitted to posterity, 
that I was the minister here just as long as the truth will allow. 
The discourse says that I was pastor here six years. Well, that 
is part of the truth, but not the whole truth. I was here, as 
instituted pastor^ that number of years; but I was here as 
preacher and acting pastor nearly a year previous to my instal- 
lation. Now I confess a little pride in regard to this matter, 
and I desire that when his discourse of to-day goes to the press, I 
may have full credit for the length of my ministry here, which 
was a very bright and important part of my ministerial life. 

None of you, who were here in 1S31, will ever forget the 
manifestation of the power and grace of God which was given 
at that period. My record states that about one hundred then 
received new life from Him who is the fountain of life. Most 
of them united with the Church, and I trust have been shinino- 

12 



90 EVENING SESSION. 

in the beauty of lioliness, from that time to the present. 
Many of you recolteet, I presume, that at that time the aged, 
venerable, and excellent members of this church were very 
much afraid of what was called " New L'ujhts^'' as being unreli- 
able and spurious. Under the staid and conservative pastorate 
of the two Lewises, having gone on prosperously, the brethren 
thought it dangerous to depart in any manner from the good old 
way. I recollect very well, what was alluded to this morning, 
that there was dissatisfaction in having a Sabbath School, as 
being inconsistent with the sacredness of the day. Well, 1 am 
in favor of old things in many respects, and have been always 
opposed to disorder and extravagance in matters of religion ; 
but it has appeared to me that the wheels which carry us on 
in the path of duty, need not always run in the rnts that have 
been worn deep by those who have gone before us. We need 
not be very anxious to steady the Ark of the Lord, when we 
are laboring zealously and faithfully for the salvation of our 
fellow-men. Why, brethren, the Lord can take better care of 
His Ark than we can, and He will keep it in safety, although it 
be drawn by kine. 

So I ventured upon instituting a protracted meeting — the 
tirst, I believe, ever held in this State. I did not dare to lay 
the subject before the Church, thinking it would create conten- 
tion and divisioH|f and that would spoil the M'hole thing. So I 
took the responsibility upon myself, and God took the meeting 
under His own care, and guided us, weak and ignorant as we 
were, in the management of it. He had great and glorious 
designs to accomplish by that meeting, and He fully accomplished 
them. The result is known to you all, and will be for the 
praise and glory of God through the boundless ages of eternity. 

The erection of a parsonage for the accommodation of myself 
and family, and those that should come after us, was another 
movement, and a very important one, in the progress of this 
church and society. A new house upon this hill ! What a novelty ! 
Generations had not seen such a thing. It was a new era. It 
broke up the long-continued sameness, and the idea, that " a 
handsome house does not make potatoes grow." It started a 
new line of enterprise ; it created new ideas ; the people caught 
the spirit of improvement ; and what do we behold now % Not 



ADDRESS OF REV. STEPHEN HUBBELL. 91 

only this hill of the Lord, but the town, adorned with spacious 
and costly edifices. And now, with a church edifice, spacious 
and imposing, erected of imperishable granite, you have all the 
external means necessary for prosperity, for generations to 
come. God has wrought great things among you. Be ye 
thankful ; ever realize your entire dependence on Him, and. 
continue to look to Him for His grace to help, and for the con- 
stant efi"asion of His Holy Spirit. Be thankful for what He 
has done for you ; live in peace ; and the God of Love will be 
with you. 

The shadows of life are deepening upon many of us; our 
period of labor and of trial must soon close, and we are looking 
forward with hope to the glorious rest which the Gospel prom- 
ises. Let our juniors who come after us realize the immense 
importance of the interests committed to their care, and guard 
them well, so that posterity, who shall commemorate another 
centenary, may acknowledge and praise God for your wisdom, 
your piety, and your Christian benevolence. Remember that 
3'ou do not live for the present. Realize your position, and the 
importance of the age in which our lot is cast, and, my dear 
friends, one and all, live for God and heaven. 



Mr. MuREAY : The next gentleman who speaks to you is one 
who was not long with you, but who still renleinbers you with 
affection and interest, evidenced by his presence — Rev. Mr. 

HuBBELL. 

EEMA^KS Of rev. STEPHEN HUBBELL. 

My Fbiends : — I suppose that few of you remember me. I 
do not belong to the " apostolic succession " of this church. In 
the summer of 1829 I ministered to this people, in one form or 
another, for six months. I then boarded in the family of the 
late Dr. Darius Mead, a good and pleasant home for any one. 
A very cultivated and agreeable companion was the doctor. 
He treated me with a great deal of consideration and kindness, 
and often, when going to I^orth Castle or elsewhere, on profes- 
sional visits to the sick, he would take raein his chaise. In this 
way I had many a delightful drive, and saw much of the neigh- 
boring parishes. The doctor was then maturing the plan for a 
new cemetery, which was laid out not long afterward. 



92 EVENING SESSION. 

I did not come liither in those days to be accepted or rejected, 
but to supply the place of a worthy man whom you had tailed 
to procure. It so happened, however, that I remained here tor 
the space of six months, always ready to occupy the pulpit, but 
stepping aside when a Gabriel came down from heaven, or any 
one else, to preach. Meanwhile I had a rare opportunity to 
see much of human nature. The agents' visits were neither 
"few nor far between." Almost everyone whose mission it 
was to enlighten the people in regard to a society formed, or 
about being formed, whatever the object, came here, — and went 
away the richer for his coming. This place was considered 
good pickings for benevolent societies. 

Death has taken away many with whom I was in a degree 
familiar, but still their memory is precious to me. Some things 
have been said about this beautiful sanctuary. " Ah ! it is 
indeed grand and beautiful. But it occurred to me, the first 
moment I looked upon it, how unadorned and naked the ground 
around it. It stands like a light-house — not a tree or vine any- 
where within reasonable distance. It is not according to my 
notions of good taste and l)eauty that a sanctuary should be set 
\ipon a rock, and no overlianging elms and creeping vines to 
shade and adorn it. When I went to my present pastorate, a 
beautiful village church was erected ; but not a tree or shrub 
around it. So I went to work to plant trees as earnestly as to 
preach the gospel. I believe it impossible to do any thing in 
any place toward elevg,ting character and bringing along the 
social and moral interests of the people, without inculcating 
among them the love of beauty. I adopted this plan : that 
every young man should ])lant some thrifty elm, some pine, or 
maple, or balsam tree, and that that should be his monument. 
If he lived, that tree should be cared for, and another, if need 
be, placed in its stead. And you cannot think what a power 
this was among them. I have in my mind's eye a man that 
became loose in his habits, — who went to the war, and died. 
Even after he liad ceased to be a regular attendant upon public 
worship, he remembered his elm-tree, as a mother does her 
child. Whenever he came home, he stirred the ground around 
it. And so all the young men looked out sharply for their 
trees. Now I suggest that you, A, B, and C, young men of 



ADDEKSS OF REV. STEPHEN nUBBELL. 93 

tliis parish, plant sometliins^ round this beantifnl house that 
shall testify to your taste and love of the beautiful, and show 
that you have some interest here. Unless you try the experi- 
ment you can have no conception of the power it will have on 
you. Every man, I take it, that lives among his fellows, should 
plant at least a tree, which shall not be his grave-stone, indeed, 
but sliall be the means of showing that he has been in the 
world, and has done something worth doino;. What a fit topic 
that would be for a thanksgiving sermon ; and I wish it were 
felt to be the duty of every man to have some monument of 
himself. He that is poor and can bring nothins: but a tree, let 
him bring a tree ; and he that cannot do that, why, let him dig 
up a stone that is in somebody's way. Let him be able to come 
to the sanctuary and say, *' I love this place, and here are things 
I have done." 

There is one scene which I witnessed in the old meeting- 
house, that I thought, then, was the most impressive I had 
ever beheld, and I wish I had taken notes, and were able to do 
it such justice as Carpenter has his intercourse with President 
Lincoln. I remember, in the summer of 1829, an agent came 
along who urged very strongly the importance of forming a 
total abstinence society. The thiiig was new then. The good 
people had not developed their piety as they have since, in con- 
nection with that great reform. As I sat in the pulpit with 
the agent, I noticed that Rev. Dr. Lewis, who was on my right, 
eyed the speaker with great attention. After the discourse 
was ended, and the matter had come to a point, the pledge was 
presented. I wonder if any of you have that pledge now. It 
was laid upon the table, and Rev. Dr. Lewis, a head and 
shoulders above common men, came forward with his staff in 
his hand, and spoke to this effect : " I have lived to see a great 
many things tried to suppress intemperance, and I think that 
at last we have found the perfect remedy. I think that total 
abstinence is the cure for all the mischief which intoxicating 
beverages have introduced into the community." Oh ! the 
grandeur of that form ! The depth, and power, and melody of 
those tones ! how he looked at the people, and how they looked 
at him ! With such a beginning, coupled, as it then was, with a 
few other chief names, the temperance reformation prospered 



94 EVENING SESSION. 

here. I think if you should find the cop}- of that old temperance 
pledge, and Dr. Lewis's name first on the list, 3-0U would do 
well to put it up somewhere about this sanctuary, so that men 
might see it and call it to mind. 

I admired the practical wisdom of that venerable man. In 
those days, in the Seminary in New Haven, we had no full 
instruction in church discipline, and I received more benefit 
from Dr. Lewis on the subject than from any other source. He 
looked through men. He did not undertake to put a halter on 
the transgressor, and make him feel that he was under a tight 
rein. He told me a case that illustrates his manner. He said 
there were two farmers living near together, The sheep of the 
one, in the spring of the year, got into the winter grain of the 
other, and were making sad work. The man whose field was 
suffering went to his Christian brother and told him he could 
not have it so — that he must take care of his sheep. The other 
paid no regard to his application. These men lived, one on one 
side of the State Hue, and the other on the other. A nice time 
two persons so situated could have, when they wanted to be 
naughty and escape the law. The offender could not be sued 
readily. The owner of the field came to Dr. Lewis and said, 
" I have a neighbor who lives near me, whose sheep are on my 
grain ahnost every day, and I have tried every thing I could to 
bring him to better views and better practice." — "Oh!" said 
Dr. Lewis, "have you talked with him?" — "Yes," said the 
farmer, " I have said every thing I could." — " Did you talk to 
him as a Christian brother, or tell liim if he did not take care 
of his sheep you would prosecute him ?" He dropped his eyes, 
and said, " I never thought of that." Said Dr. Lewis, " Go and 
see him again. Do not threaten to sue him, or do any thing in 
a threatening vein ; then if he does not attend to you, come 
and see me again." Weeks'and months passed away, and the 
doctor heard no more from this offense. Once he met the com- 
plaining farmer, and asked him what had become of that afi'air. 
" Oh !" said he, " I have talked with him, and I believe he is a good 
man. If he ever pays me for the damage, very well ; if not, very 
well ; I have no more to say about it ; I am satisfied." And 
about his preaching, he told me some things rather interesting. 
He said when he came here he began to preach from a brief. 



ADDKES8 OF RKV. CHARLES E. LINDSLEY. 95 

In those days he walked a certain time in his study, thinking 
over his sermon, and then wrote down a skeleton, and when he 
went to church he put the skeleton in the crown of his hat, and 
thus took it into the pulpit. Having preached very earnestly 
one Sabbath morning against some false views prevalent in the 
parish, he was accosted by one of his hearers when he came 
out, and asked whether, he believed so and so. The doctor 
said he did, and went on to reason with tlie gentleman, who 
a(;companied him to his house, where the}^ continued absorbed 
in conversation until the bell rang. Then, he said, he took his 
hat and went to church again. He was accustomed to take the 
old brief out during the intermission, and put in the brief for 
his afternoon sermon, but on this occasion he had been so 
absorbed that he forgot it. " I had to preach without any 
brief," said he, " and from that day forward I took no paper 
with me into the pulpit." 

The doctor related to me an anecdote of an old lady he had 
in his parish, whose name was Howe. She was a godly woman 
and lived to a great age — nearly, if not quite, one hundred 
years. One day, as he was making a pastoral call at her house, 
she said to him, in her peculiar way : " When I was youno- and 
for many years afterward, I could hear a sermon, and take it 
home to think it over, and digest it at my spinning-wheel 
during the week. Afterward, as I grew old. and forgetful, I 
listened to the preaching and applied it right on the spot, and 
so I was sure of it, though my memory was failing." But the 
time allotted to me has expired, and I must give place to others 
who desire to address you. 



A Hymn w^as then sung by the choir, after which, 

KEV. CHARLES E. LINDSLEY 

was introduced, and spoke as follows :— 

My Friends :— I do not feel that I have any special' claim 
upon your attention this evening, and I shall endeavor to be 
brief in my remarks ; if not, I hope that my brother here will 
give me due intimation of it. I bring you the fraternal greet- 
ings and congratulations of one of your sister churches— the 
church of Southport, a colony of the ancient church of Fairfield, 



96 EVENING SESSION. 

now some two hundred years old; that church of which you 
have heard to-day, that when Roger Minot Sherman was one 
of the prominent members, he sent my father (who had pre- 
sented the cause of Western Colleges there) down here to Green- 
wich, to a people that he said were both able and willing to 
help him. I can tell you another good thing that Roger Minot 
Sherman did. When dying, he left his house to the parish of 
Fairlield for a parsonage, and with it eight acres of land, and 
money enough to furnish that house and keep it in perpetual 
repair. And I heard of a clergyman who was once (tailed there 
saying, "The salary here would be no object for me, with my 
family; but the parsonage, the house and grounds, are an ob- 
ject, and I shall be able to live here, under these circumstances, 
in comfort." Now the good which that man did lives after him. 
You may be aware that the ancient church of Fairfield was 
burned down by the British, on their march to Danbury. And 
I have heard an anecdote with regard to the march of the 
British through that place, when they burned down the church. 
There was one high tory woman there who managed to have her 
own house saved, and also the house of one of her neighbors. 
Well, after the British wure beaten off,- and had retired to their 
ships, on the American army's coming into the town, the sol- 
diers declared that those two houses should be burned. They 
said that these were the only houses that were saved by tory 
interest. So they Avere going actually to burn down the only 
two houses left standing in the place, when the woman who 
owned one of the houses sent for the American commander, and 
persuaded him to prevent the soldiers from burning them. 

I well recollect the circumstances connected with ni}^ first 
visit to Greenwich. I was sitting in iny little study in New 
York, soon after graduating from the Seminary, when I received 
a letter from my father, or from some one of the congregation 
here, stating that they looked to me to supply the pulpit for the 
next Sabbath. I was slenderly supplied with material for 
preaching, but I made up my mind to come. On Saturday 
afternoon, it so happened that my watch stopped, and conse- 
quently I missed the boat, so that I had no way of keeping my 
appointment then but by taking the Harlem train, which left 
me at White Plains about nine o'clock at night. The question 



ADDKESS (,)F REV. CHARLES E. LINDSLEY. 97 

then was, how should I get to Greenwich to preach (the dis- 
tance being ten miles). I started on foot, making up ray mind 
that if I failed to*lveep an appointment at the beginning of mj 
ministry, there was no knowing what I would do before I got 
through. I had walked perhaps a mile or two, when I dis- 
covered a "man in a wagon before me, whose proceedings were 
very eccentric. He did not seem to be making progress in a 
straight line, but was "backing and filling" in the most extra- 
ordinary manner. I found, on examination, that he was 
making the best navigation he could, but evidently he was not 
a strict member of the temperance society. Still, I thought it 
my duty to assist him a little, so I got into the wagon, and en- 
deavored to put myself on friendlv terms with him. Althouo-h 
very much in liquor, it seemed to have the effect upon him of 
making him very good-natured, for, on my proposing to him to 
drive me a little way, he very kindly took me to within two 
miles of Greenwich. There he stopped, and said he ought to 
go home to his wife ; she would begin to think he was lost. He 
had discretion enough left to think of that. I thought so too, 
and so I got out and footed it the rest of the way, reaching 
here between twelve and one o'clock at night. Mr. Obadiah 
Peck had given me up for lost, but received and entertained 
me hospitably, and that Sabbath I preached my first sermon in 
this pulpit. I continued to supply the pulpit for the four suc- 
ceeding Sabbaths. That was twenty years ago ! It was just 
after you had given my father a call, but he had not yet 
been installed. I had just two sermons for the first Sunday. 
Then I went into the study over there (pointing to the parson- 
age), where so many sermons have been written, and got to 
work. But after two or three Sabbaths, I found that the work 
was getting very heavy. The ammunition ran low, and I began 
to exchange with the brethren about here. Then a gentleman, 
whom I now see before me (Mr. Sandford Mead), came to me 
and said, " Why do you not stick to the people, they have stuck 
by you?" I suppose that good brother had a very inadequate 
idea of the slender stock of sermons that a young minister has 
on hand. 

When our army, after the long delscy before Manassas, entered 
that place, when it was evacuated by the confederates, they 

13 



98 EVEN'ING SESSION. 

found that tlie formidable looking batteries turned out to be 
armed with wooden, guns! But I was perfectly satisfied that 
it would not do to try wooden guns, or guns without ammuni- 
tion, on this congregation. 

I think that something ought now to be said about this church 
edifice. I was here at the time it was proposed to build it, and 
felt a great interest in the structure, from its very foundation. 
I talked with Mr. Robert W. Mead, one of the prominent men 
connected with the enterprise, as to what kind of a church 
ought to be built in such a place as this. I said to him : " You 
will encounter opposition if you undertake to build such a 
church here as ought to be erected, considering the population 
and the situation / but remember, you are huildlngfor future 
genei'ationsP Coming here again, after the foundations were 
laid, and the walls began to rise, I found that a truly magnifi- 
cent structure was designed, and I rejoiced to see it ! So I 
said to Mr. Mead : '" You are exceeding any expectations I 
ever entertained. Evidently you do not mtend that any thing 
short of an earthquake shall overturn the foundations of this 
church."— "No," replied Mr. Mead, " we do not." And I 
could but think, while sitting here to-day, that this was the 
first celebration of this kind I ever attended (and I have been 
present on several such occasions) where there was room enough 
and to spare,, and that,, too,^ with such an audience I I am 
I'ejoiced to find that your church is big enough to hold all that 
come. It appeared to me there were people enough here to 
crowd almost any other church ;• but you now discern the bene- 
fit of building a church large enough for any emergency. 

I will say, in closing, that you may always be sure that I 
shall feel a lively interest in this church and people ; that there 
will be at least one man who will make pilgrimages to this 
place, as long as the dust of his sainted mother rests in yonder 
inclosure. Yet I feel deeply the truth of what has been said 
by a brother who preceded me, as to your need of a public 
cemetery. And I hope, now that this beautiful and commo- 
dious structure has been erected, that all the surroundings will 
be made to harmonize with it. You are a city set on a hill, 
that cannot be hid. Once when I came here to preach on the 
Sabbath, I stayed at the house of Mr. R. AY. Mead. When I 



LKTTEK YROU REV. DAVID PECK. 99 

went to my cluiiiiber for the iiiglit, I found a brilliant light 
shining in at mj window. All night long it shone there, bright 
and constant, and in the morning I said to Mr. Mead: "What 
light is that that shines in so strong from the Sound ?" Said 
he : " Are you preaching np at Southport, and don't know the 
light on Eaton's Neck ?" I said, " I did not suppose that light 
could be seen so clearly down here." Well, my friends, your 
church is jiist such a light-house ; one that can be seen afar 
off. Do not let the light go out ; keep it burning, so that which- 
ever way you go, you and others may behold its brightness. 
The Lord be with you, now and ev'ermore. 



Letters were here read from invited guests who were unable 
to be present. 



From Kev. John Edgar to Wm. A. Howe, Esq., a member 
of the Committee of Arrangements '.— 

Lisbon, September 28, i8G6. 
Mr. Wm. A. Howe : — 

My Dear Friend :— Your note of tke 25th instant, inviting me to be present at 
the 1.50th Anniversary of the founding of your church, is just received. I should 
esteem it a great favor to be present on that occasion with you, but I am just 
breaking up here, and next week expect to leave for Chicago and the Northwest, 
to spend the winter. I shall most likely be in Wisconsin or Iowa. It will, there- 
fore, be impracticable for me to join with you in this most interesting celebration. 

I remember that I am indebted to the Greenwich church, and to some members 
in particular, for tlieir kindness in helping me, a stranger, through my college 
course. I trust that j^our church will be able to send out many more men, and 
better ones th^ myself, ipto the great harvest-field. 

1 hope that Providence will favw this undertaking, and that you will have a 
joyous and profitable time. Yours truly, 

John Edgar. 

From Rev. David Peck to P. Button, Esq., Chairman of the 
Committee of Arrangen)ents : — - 

Barre, Mass., Novemlter 5, 1866 
P. Button, Esq. :— 

Dear Sir : — I am aware that you are to have a grand time in G-veenwich on 
Wednesday of this week^ and I have a strong desire to be present, but have very 
reluctantly come to the conclusion to remain at home. My invitation did not reach 
me till last week, and henoe I had little time to make arrangements to be absent. 
The occasion would be of special interest to me, since I am a descendant of the 
first settled minister in Greenwich, aad uiy ancestors have been connected witli the 



100 EVENING SESSION, 

Second Congregational Church ever since its formation. In my early childhood, I 
used to hear my now sainted mother talk of that church and people, and of the 
elder Dr. Lewis, whom she venerated more than any other man. I never had the 
pleasure of seeing him, hut always heard him spoken of with such profound 
respect, that I concluded he must have been eminent both for talents and piety. 

I have never been a member of your church, but it has been my good fortune to 
hear several of your ministers preach, and I have received many expressions of 
good-will from the people who worship there, and especially from yourself If all 
the surviving ministers are present on Wednesday, they will be a host in them- 
selves, and will furnish you abundant entertainment. There is Rev. Noah Coe, 
whom I thought an old man when be preached his farewell sermon, twenty-one 
years ago, but who is vigorous yet, although on the outer side of eighty. Only 
last spring I met him in New Haven, returning from a ride of twelve miles on 
horseback. There is Rev. Joel Mann, crowding close up to eighty, but as erect in 
form as he was forty years ago. "His eye is not dim, neither is his natural force 
abated." One year ago he was busy writing a history of his native town in New 
Hampshire, which, I presume, he has since completed. There is Dr. Linsley, 
young compared with his predecessors, but yet full of years, and full of honors, and 
full, I doubt not, of the hope of a blissful immortality. Few men have I loved so 
much ; to few preachers have I listened with so much interest and profit. Long 
may he live to preach "the glorious Gospel of the blessed God." Happy and use- 
ful be all his remaining years, and '^ serus in codum redeaV 

And there is Rev. F. G. Clark. Can it be twenty years since I used to hear him 
hold forth the Word of Life so fiithfully in that pulpit? He looked like a boy 
then. He looks decidedly youthful still, and yet he has the grave D. D. attached to 
his name, and must feel called upon to bear himself with a dignity very unnatural 
and somewhat irksome. But this necessity comes witli "clustering honors," and I 
hope he is submissive. 

And there is Rev. George Bushnell, not old, although gray-headed. He has 
made the West his home, and there, for many years, God grant he may battle with 
sin and preach the truth as it is in Jesus. 

And there is Rev. Mr Murray, tlie present incumbent. It has never been my 
good fortune to meet him, and hence I can say nothing respecting him, but will 
leave him with the prayer that God may bless him and make him a blessing. 

And then, wliat a company of ministers that churcli has raised up! Doubtless 
some of them will be presentto add interest to your celebration. 

But it would not be altogether pleasant were I with you on Wednesday. 
Memories of the past would come thronging into the mind, and many a face once 
fiimiliar would be absent. The fathers, where are they ? And where are some of 
the youth who used, with me, twenty years since, to attend church there, and were 
at the same time my school-mates? I recall the faces of Belcher Mead, Lewis 
Howe, Jabez Mead, Daniel M. Mead, Thos. R. Mead, and other faces, too, which I 
should in vain look for in Greenwich now. The long roll of the dead must occupy 
some of your time, and temper your mirth on this glad anniversary. May you and 
I, and all of us, hear and heed the voice of God saying to us, "Whatsoever thy 
hand findeth lo do, do it witli thy might." And may the love of Christ constrain 
us to be wholly devoted to His blessed service; then shall we be useful and happy 
here, and finally enjoy a grand reunion in those " sweet fields beyond the swelling 



LETTICE FROM REV. WM. TRl':LAJSrD. 101 

flood," and have ample opportunity to talk over the varied experience of this life 
and all tlie way in which our Heavenly Father led us till our change came. 
********* 

Your sincere friend, 

David Peck. 

From Rev, Wm, Ireland, Missionary for nearly twenty years 
at Auianziintote, Africa: — 

Amanzimtote Mission Station, 
October 10, 186G. 
"W. A. Howe, Esq., Greenwich, Conn. : — 

My Dear Sir: — Your letter of June r2th came to hand just a little too late for 
me to answer it in time for your celebration, to take place next month. I am 
sorry you did not say what time in November it was to be, so that I might have 
celebrated the day with you in thought and in prayer. 

Your letter carried me back, in imagination, thirty years and six montlis ago — 
to the first of May, 1836 — when in that old meeting-house, and in the presence of 
the great congregation, I made a public and solemn dedication of myself to God. 
I was then fourteen years of age, and the idea of sometime being a missionary to 
the heathen was one of the fond visions of my youth. The following year my 
father, who, I believe, was one of the deacons of your church, moved with his 
family to the far "West, and settled about forty miles from Quincy, Illinois. In 
1841 I entered Illinois College, located at Jacksonville, wiiere I graduated in 1845. 
In October of that year, I commenced a course of theological studies at Andover, 
Massachusetts. In October, 1848, having completed my theological studies, and 
having b?en set apart as a minister of the gospel, I sailed from Boston as a mis- 
sionary of the A. B. C. F. M., to their mission-fields among the Zulus in the colony 
of Natal. 

In September, 1849, I was located at the Ifumi station, and remained in charge 
of that post until the beginning of 1863. 

During this period, through the divine blessing npon my labors, I admitted 
more than forty to the fellowship of the church, solemnized about twenty Christian 
marriages, and baptized more than fifty children, the oflsp ring of the native mem- 
bers of our church. In 1859-60, we erected a commodious brick chapel, costing 
about $2,000, without any expense to the Board, and considerable more than 
one-half of this sum was raised upon the station. 

As another evidence of the efficiency and liberahty of this little church, I may 
be pardoned for adding, that, in 1860, they made a donation to the Board of nearly 
$100, and in 1861-2, about $140 to their Native Home Missionary Society. 

In 1863, in consequence of the death of my first wife, I visited the United States, 
where I remained until the end of 1864. The 2d of January, 1865, I sailed a 
second time for Africa, accompanied by my present wife, who is the eldest daughter 
of Rev. Alden Grout, one of the founders of the Zulu Mission. 

On my return to Natal I was appointed Principal of the High School for 
boys. The object of this school is to raise up an efficient staff' of native preachers 
and schoolmastei'S, for which there is at present a most pressing demand. It was 
a severe trial to part with my old home and people. I am now, however, getting 



lf)2 EVENING SESSION. 

interested in the scliool. and if my health remains good, may hope for an important 

and extended sphere of us efulness. The school, at present, numbers eighteen 

scholars, most of whom have already made very commendable progress. May I 

have the united prayers of the church in Greenwich, that ihe hearts of these young 

men may be touched by the Spirit of God, so that their education may tend largely 

to promote the cause of Christ among their countrymen. 

Trusting that yon will have a pleasant and profiti ble occasion, I remain, yours 

sincerely, 

"Wm. Ireland. 



ADDKESS BY EEV. DR. CLARK. 

Rev. Dr. Clark was introduced as the last speaker of the 
evening, and said : — 

A hundred and fifty years ago ! It is something to think about. 
It is a great while. It is a long time since men of God laid 
the foundations of this Christian organization. Why, think of 
it ! George I. was on tlije throne of ^England ; and in France, 
Louis XIV. had but just finished his magnificent career of 
empire, and his grandson, Louis XY., a boy, was looking for- 
ward to that reign in which he illustrated the corruptions of 
human nature so much more than he did the glories of France, 
Here, in this country, the white men that had had the hardi- 
hood to come out witli the ax, and with hearts sharper and 
stronger than the steel they handled, were subduing tlie forests. 
A hundred and fifty years ago ! It was a hundred years, almost, 
before a steamboat vexed the waters of the Hudson ; the luxuiy 
of sending a letter by the post-office had onl_y been known for 
half a do?en years ; and as for a cnp of tea, it was a great I'arity. 
What did the ladies of those times do ? I do not know how 
much tea die} cost, but it was only about four years before the 
foundation of this church that they began to use tea in Great 
Britain, a,nd it is very supposable that a cup of tea cost some- 
thing in our region at that time. I^ewspapers were not to be 
had. There was not a newspaper in New York or Philadelphia. 
Tiiere were but three colleges in the country, Harvard, Yale, 
and William & Mary. And as for those great institutions in 
England and in this country that have risen up and towered 
like Alpine summits in the moral heavens, all of them were 
unknown and unborn. These institutions that have sent the 



ADDKESS OF RKV. DR. CLAKK. 103 

Bible all over the world ; these great Christian establishments 
tliat are to-day manufacturing the Bible so fast tliut o'ur chil- 
dren would find it a problem to compute the rapidity ; these 
great missionary institutions, all, were unknown. 

Then there is a comical view of this which I sometimes take. 
Fancy that you put in that gallery the ladies of o.ne hundred 
and fifty years ago, With their bon'n'ets, which I have heard called 
"sky-scrapers"' — put them there, With their antiquated finery, 
and place beside them our young American Miss, her bonnet 
degenerated to three straws laid acToss the head, tied with a 
bow. Just imagine the ladies of one hundred and fifty years 
ago and the ladies of today confronting each other. They would 
look at one another and laugh! The one just as absurd in the 
eyes of her neighbor ais the other, and neither absurd in her time. 
It only shows that it would be very unfortunate in any of us to 
outlive our time, and carry our antiquated notions and fashions 
down into posterity, where we did n'ot belong. 

This is the first blossoming of a century plant that I was- 
ever permitted to see. I have lieard of such things; that when 
the plant apjiroached the age of blossoming, the time M'^as care- 
fully noted, and friends were invited, and it was a great thing 
to see the flowering of the century plant. Now, my friends, it 
is something to have seen the blossoming of this church. It is 
something to be here. The childi'en, every one, will mark this 
and say, in years to come, " I remember the time when this 
church celebrated its one hundred and fiftieth anniversary. I 
remember what was written over the pulpit. I remember the 
ministers. I remember the tables, how they groaned, as if they 
would be crushed under the magnificent liberality of the Green- 
wich people. I I'emember how the sky looked down, what a 
welcome, and what a blessing the day seemed to bestow upon 
the great occasion." 

And it is a thing to be noted. We are vastly influenced by 
these landmarks along our course. We are influenced by these 
memorials, these Ebenezers that God leads us to set up from 
time to time. 

We have had a great deal to-day that is instructive ; much that 
was very pleasant. We have had some things a little personal, 
and my Brother Bissell, who did his best to make his escape 



104 EVKNING SESSION.. 

in the cars, but was detained, liandled my Brother Button a 
httle roughly. As he is here, I must have my revenge. It 
was quite unnecessary for Mr. Bissell to seem so modest at 
being called upon to speak. A good many of you will remem- 
ber an occasion when he came to preach here, and his sermon 
was non est, .like Dr. Lewis's brief. He was in great tribula- 
tion, and said to me in the pulpit, "Do give them out another 
hymn ;" and out he w^ent to his wagon and turned over the 
cushions, but without success. He came back in blank despair, 
and said, " What shall I do?" Said I, "You must preach ; 
you came to preach, and you will have to do it." He did 
preach, and probably a great deal better than if he had had his 
written sermon, which, by the way, on his return home, he 
found all right. That circumstance showed that he could preach 
without his parchment; and it was quite unnecessary for him 
to entertain us with apologies. He can talk w^ienever called 
upon, and talk well without his notes-. 

My friends, a word about our obligations to those who have 
gone before us. Our relations to them have been such as to lay us 
under very great responsibility. Our fathers have left influences 
upon us that it would be treason for us not to regard and protit 
by. What is influence? Well, influence is like the light of 
day. Influence is the gentlest thing, and is made up of material 
the most insigniticant. I will venture to say that my brother 
who has been here about two years (Rev. Mr. Murray), and 
who tells me he is going to leave you, will, if it please God to 
spare his life twenty years more, never forget the friends he 
has met here, and the influence exercised upon him, under God, 
in this church. I have never forgotten it. I do not know any 
thing of his personal history, but I take it for granted that it is 
so with him, for I know the people. We are influenced by 
these things. May I run back and give a reminiscence of 
twenty years ago? Well I remember a man that sat in the old 
meeting-house, over on that (the west) side. He had a head 
that looked like Washington. He was deaf; he never heard a 
word that was said ; but when I came to the church, no matter 
whether it rained or snowed, that man was there, and if there 
v,'as a man in this church that heard me, that man seeined to 
hear me. He looked at me, he helped me, he seemed to give 



ADDRESS OF EEV. DK. CLAEK, 105 

his whole soul to me when I preached, though he was utterly 
deaf. His influence toned me up and helped me. 

"We used to hold prayer-meetings around the parish then ; 
and I thought some of your ways were very crooked and very 
rough. I was going to one of these prayer-meetings on a dark 
and cloudy night, and got lost. I drove to the end of the road I 
was upon, and thought, What shall I do ? I must turn about, 
but it is utterly dark, how can I do it? Just at that moment 
I was told to turn to the right. I could see no one ; but I heard 
a voice saying, " This way, Mr. Clark." I followed the voice, 
and came out right. Who do you suppose it was ? I will leave 
you to guess. It was a workingman here — a man at my elbow, 
who always helped me, who helped to tone up my earnestness 
in the work, and for whose care and co-operation 1 thank God, 

May I indulge further by saying that in the twenty years of 
my ministry since, again and again, I cannot tell how often, 
the faces of the people of this church have loomed up to me 
through the mist of passing years, and have encouraged me and 
made me feel that religion is a reality, and the service of God 
is a service that cannot lose its reward. 

My friends, I have been greatly gratified by the suggestion 
as it respects the matter of trees. I think Presbyterian congre- 
gations have lost ten per cent, of their power by the old idea 
that it did not matter how a thing looked, if it only answered 
the purpose ; and the Episcopalians, by taking pains to beautify 
their churches, by putting ivy about them, and making them 
attractive, have shown common sense as well as taste. I re- 
joice that it is beginning to be understood by our own con- 
gregations, that their churches ought to be made attractive, and 
that it is no sin to have things pleasing to the eye, as well as 
good for the soul. 

A word in regard to the suggestion that every young man 
plant a tree. Enough has been said about the external sanc- 
tuary. May I ask you to recall the words of the Great Teacher, 
who said, " Ye are the temple of God." Ye, not the building. 
Ye — your souls, your characters, your life, ye are the temple of 
God. And as one of your friends comes here, and, with excel- 
lent judgment, advises you to plant beautiful shrubs and trees 
around your church, may I ask you to adorn the interior sanc- 

14 



106 EVENING SESSION. 

tiiary with the beauty of hohness. May I suggest to every 
young man that he plant a tree ? May I suggest to every 
young woniau that she phant a tree? By which I mean that 
lie and she do something that will make a mark and leave an 
iniluence for good, that will aifect those who come after. A 
few weeks ago I was called to follow to your cemetery one* 
who was in your choir when I preached in this pulpit. Many 
times have I remembered that sunny face. A thousand times 
have I recalled her with the group of singers, and felt an ex- 
hilaration and elevation from this in her character : she had a 
cheerful piety. She threw her whole soul into what she did. 
She loved Christ's cause. As I went before the coffin into the 
graveyard, I read upon a tombstone, " Thomas R. Mead^'' and 
I thought that was a boy when I was here ; he was but a boy 
six years ago, and now he has grown up to manhood ; he has 
gone and fought the battles of his country, and there he lies — 
dead? No! his character, his influence live; he has made his 
mark, and he lived long enough, because into a short life he 
crowded the greatness of piety and patriotism. 

Now I cannot detain you, and I am tempted to indulge more 
than I ought in these reminiscences. But may I be indulged 
in this : to challenge every one of you, my friends of this church, 
to this resolve, that we rise higher from tins day. May I 
ask that every deacon of this church, that every member of this 
society and congregation, that 3'oung and old shall just look out 
from this elevation on which God has placed you. Ah ! think 
that this church has been going up and up for a hundred and 
fifty years ! Think of the opportunity God gives you to-day 
for doing good. Think of the great idea that is now so fully 
developed, that children are capable of piety. This is no longer, 
thank God ! the age of repression for children. I remember, 
when I was a boy, in a crowded meeting-house, being jammed 
as tight as I could be, near a large stove, I had an overcoat on, 
and I was obliged to take it off, and in doing so to squeeze 
mj^self out from between a good deacon and some one else. It 
appeared perfectly disgusting to him that a little boy should 
make any movement, and he said, with great irritation, " Why 
don't you take off your shirt C That was a good while ago ; 

* Miss Lizetta Peck. 



CONCLUSION. 107 

but it showed this, — that a boy was of no account in the judgment 
of the old man. And I never forgot it. It was the worst 
thing he could have done, in his influence upon me. Every 
thing seemed in keeping with the sour-visaged tithing-man who 
used to come round, during service, with a long rod, and knock 
the boys on the head. The chief idea seemed to be to suppress 
childhood. But now it is understood that the power of Chris- 
tian society is in the young. Now it is understood that spiritual 
precocity, if so you please to call it, that the early development 
of piety, is the very life and power of the church. It is now 
understood that children can be converted in tender youth. 

But I cannot detain you longer. Will you all resolve that 
from this day you will go forward — that you will look out from 
this Alpine summit to which God's providence has brought 
you, Mdiile you remember what the speaker of this morning 
told us, that " this was a brighter day than any day of the 
past." I thank God when I hear an old man showing thus 
that he has such a young heart in him. Remember that this 
is the brightest, most hopeful day, and in that thought go for- 
ward ! By all that God did for your fathers, by all that your 
fathers did for you, by all you owe to your children, go for- 
ward, go upward, in material prosperity, in spiritual growth; 
and resolve that this light-house of the Lord shall shine all 
along our Xew England coast, and that from it shall proceed 
an influence that will go out into all the world and come back 
to you in benisons. 



Mr. MuEEAY then said : I have said that Dr. Clark would be 
the last speaker. There is one man, my good friends, who did 
you a service to-day that we cannot too highly appreciate. The 
graves have been alluded to, and it is well they should be ; but 
befure we go out, let us remember the cradles. There are ears 
too young to hear our speech to-night in this town, and eyes 
not yet instructed in vision, so that they may read the motto 
above our heads ; and there is one man sitting here before you 
who has done a service for this class that I cannot overrate. 
A hand has been reached into the past, into the dark past of 
tradition, and out of it fetched something more valuable than 



108 EVENING SESSION. 

gold ; and it is more pleasant for me to think of it, because 
that hand is aged, and whether it reaches backward or for- 
ward, it will reach not many years again. The man who has 
done you a service that you never can repay, is Rev. Dr. 
LiNSLEY. "We cannot consent to separate until this aged man, 
who has been long your teacher, and who has done you such 
service, shall have received a public expression of your respect, 
by this audience rising in his honor. 

(The entire audience rose in silence, and Mr. Murray addressed 
Rev. Dr. Linsley :) 

Receive, my aged friend, this mark of a people's respect. 
The thanks of man are common, but the thanks of the multi- 
tude are few. 

Rev. Dr. Linsley, with much emotion, said : That he could 
make no return for the honor shown him, and the kind words 
addressed by his young brother in the ministry. His heart was 
full, and he felt that this was a day that would be long and 
pleasantly cherished in the remembrance of them all. 

The audience then joined in singing the Coronation Hymn, 
and were dismissed with a Benediction by Rev. Dr. Linsley. 



LEJlW 



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